


vampire in my living room

by strawberrysoliloquy



Category: Eddsworld
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Vampire!Matt, and he cant figure out whats up with his sexuality, god where the heck is the plot in this work, he's an ass at first, i cant find it at all, i use the terms faerie folk and supernatural synonymously, im pretty sure that ringo doesnt count as a character lmao, matt is just a perfect thicc vampire that doesnt know that he's leading tom on asjlkd, so incredibly slow, this is actually a pretty serious fic, tom is a lovesick loser, very slow, very very v e r y slow development, yes i have both in this fic dont hurt me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-12 12:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 22,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11737350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrysoliloquy/pseuds/strawberrysoliloquy
Summary: tom accidentally lets a vampire, who claims to be his new guardian angel, into his house late one night and shenanigans ensue.





	1. a long prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom goes out late to buy groceries and comes home to a startlingly chilly apartment complex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after way too much deliberation on whether i should post this or not,, here's the first chapter of vimlr !! ive got 3 more chapters finished but i still have to edit those & type them up so,,,,,,,,,, have this super long prologue while you wait

it was exhaustingly late. tom had forgotten his phone in his apartment and the clock in his car was busted, so he didn't exactly know what time it was. he could tell that it was late, almost falling asleep while driving down the highway. he wasn't really sure why he was out at this hour, but he figured that the plastic grocery store bags in the passenger seat probably had something to do with it. 

tom turned a corner, his car's headlights illuminating the empty streets. soft indie rock played on the radio, almost lulling him asleep again as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. he parked sloppily, right in the middle of two spaces, but at this point, he didn't particularly care. all he really wanted to do was go inside and go to sleep. sleep sounded nice. it sounded very nice. 

tom made his way out of his car with grocery bags in hand. once outside in the cool night air, he stopped and took a breath. the moon was full, hanging low in the starry expanse of nothing, and the night was peaceful, quiet. he didn't often stop and admire these things about nighttime. he smiled faintly, casually walking to the entrance of the apartment building. the automatic doors slid open with a quiet mechanical whirr, tom stepping inside.

there wasn't anyone at the front desk, all of the lights dimmed, as they usually were at this time of night. the chirpy young woman that worked the front desk had probably gone home. tom adjusted his hold on the several plastic bags in his hands, going towards the elevators next to the front desk and gingerly pressing the up button. 

a cold draft whispered through the lobby, which was odd because the doors hadn't opened, and it wasn't that cool outside anyway. tom looked around the empty area for a moment, then shrugged it off, his elevator arriving. the elevator doors opened, revealing a similarly empty space. tom blinked slowly as he went into the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh level, the doors closing with an unobtrusive ding.

tom found the elevator music quite quaint, the elevator making its way to his floor. the draft from the lobby seemed to have drifted into the elevator, the chill sending goosebumps up tom's arms. a few moments past, the elevator doors sliding open once again to reveal the familiar hallway of the seventh floor. he stepped out of the elevator, the cool draft almost seeming to follow him down the hallway to his apartment. 

tom set his grocery bags on the floor for a brief second, fishing in his pockets for the keys to his front door. he found them in his back pocket just as something rubbed up against his leg, causing him to jump. he looked down to see the neighbor's cat circling around his leg, purring. tom sighed, unlocking the door and opening it wide. 

"you might as well come in," tom mumbled, the cat meowing in response. his next door neighbor had a cat, but they often booted the poor thing out into the hall for no reason. tom had gotten accustomed to letting the cat in when the neighbor felt the urge to remove the creature from their living space. tom didn't mind much, finding himself growing pretty fond of the cat. 

tom followed the cat inside of his apartment, bags in hand. he kicked the door closed, fumbling for the light switch in the dark. he flicked the lights on, exhaling and going into the kitchen to put down his groceries. the stove clock read 2:04, and tom groaned, suddenly feeling much too lazy to put all of his groceries away. he'd just do it later. 

the whole apartment was cold, similar to the lobby, so tom went to the thermostat in the living room and cranked up the heat. this proved futile, the cold presence still occupying the space. tom stared at the thermostat for a second, then clicked his tongue at the cat, who was settled on one of the threadbare couch cushions. the cat hopped off the couch and followed tom to his bedroom, snuggling into tom's arms when tom collapsed on top of his bed. 

it only took seconds for tom to fall asleep, surrendering completely to unconsciousness, even though he was still fully dressed.


	2. the stranger arrives in an abrupt fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom wakes up and gets startled.

tom blearily woke to the cat licking at his cheek with its scratchy tongue. tom made a sleepy noise, rolling over in an attempt to escape and go back to bed. the feline kept at it, pawing his head and meowing in his ear. 

"shut up," tom grumbled, blindly batting the cat away. he almost fell back asleep, a loud growling disrupting his slumber. he flopped over to face the ceiling, his stomach rumbling obscenely a second time. tom huffed, kicking off his shoes and sitting up so he could strip himself of his hoodie. it was unbearably hot in here. 

tom managed to climb out of bed and stumble out into the hallway, the cat right on his heels. out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a quick breath of a shadow, and he stopped in his tracks, confused. he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, deeming himself more exhausted than he thought.

he wandered into the bathroom, it being startlingly cool compared to the rest of the house. he shivered, rubbing his hands on his arms as he gazed at his disheveled self in the mirror. his hair was sticking out at all angles, and there were gross bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in a week or something. he yawned, turning the sink faucet and splashing his tired face with the lukewarm water.

he let the water run down his face, then turned to grab the towel hanging on the wall, coming face to face with someone. tom yelped, snatching the towel from the wall and scrambling away from whoever it was. tom quickly rubbed his face with the towel to make sure he wasn't delusional, and lo and behold, the interloper was still there, his head cocked to the side. 

"is this how you treat all your guests?" he asked, brushing some stray orange hairs from his very pale face. tom sputtered.

"guests??" he cried. "what the hell do you mean, guests?" the stranger blinked his bright red eyes. 

"well, you did invite me in," he stated, trailing his also very pale finger on the sink countertop. tom furrowed his brows, upset, confused, and a little scared at the same time. who the hell was this? how the fuck did he get in?

"like fuck i did!" tom exclaimed, pressing himself against the wall when the person took a step closer to him.

"you said, 'you might as well come in', so i did. i can't go in a private dwelling unless i'm invited. it's simply typical faerie code." tom squinted at the intruder, vaguely noticing his pointy, elf-like ears with two shiny studs pierced into each lobe. 

"what the fuck? faerie code?" red eyes was getting too close for comfort, almost all up in tom's space. red eyes pressed his lips together, finally retreating a couple steps away. he didn't say anything, just pointed at the mirror. tom hesitated, his heartbeat quickening as he peered into the mirror. his heart began to hammer against his ribcage when he only saw himself in the mirror, no orange-haired, red-eyed stranger along with him. 

"wh-- wha? what the fuck? what am i on?" he stammered, his head spinning. was he actually having a wicked hangover? or was he just dreaming up some freaky shit? red eyes then pulled one side of his mouth open with his index finger, revealing frighteningly long, sharp incisors, much longer and sharper than normal. tom was rendered speechless, thoroughly freaked out.

what. the fuck. was happening.

red eyes seemed to pick up on how spooked tom was, immediately taking his finger out of his mouth and wiping it on his black t-shirt. 

"i'm sorry!" red eyes apologized. "i didn't mean to startle you! honest!" tom kept blankly gaping, not able to process exactly what was going on. 

"th... the fuck?" was all he could quietly manage. red eyes looked concerned and worried at tom's state. 

but not concerned and worried enough, apparently, because when tom's everything gave out, red eyes didn't quite catch him in time.


	3. red eyes politely demands respect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom wakes up again and discovers that his 'guest' is very convincing.

tom awoke for the second time that morning, opening his eyes to see red eyes staring expectantly at him. it took a moment for tom to realize that they were on the couch, though he wasn't particularly sure how he got there. red eyes was at least four inches shorter than him, so it was improbable that red eyes had carried him all the way from the bathroom. 

but still, red eyes was not fucking human. who knew that kind of shit this kid could pull. 

tom sat up on the couch, making sure he was as far away from red eyes as possible. he was practically sitting on the armrest by now, but anything to get away from whatever red eyes happened to be. the mirror, the teeth, the ears... it all added up. if tom was sitting in front of a legitimate vampire, he was going to go into cardiac arrest. red eyes smiled a closed-lip smile and gave a small wave. 

"hi," he said. "i hope you're okay now." tom blinked at him, too wary to speak. red eyes blinked back at him, then shifted his gaze a little to the side. 

"i don't necessarily.... know how humans work, so i wasn't expecting such a... strange reaction. surely you've encountered some form of faerie folk in your lifetime?" after a beat, tom stiffly shook his head no. red eyes pursed his lips together, seeming to contemplate his next words. 

"well, um... i'm sorry that this happens to be your first... supernatural experience. it gets easier from here, i promise." tom just stared. red eyes looked completely comfortable, nestled nicely in between the couch cushions. he drummed his pale fingers on his knee, some form of surprise flashing onto his face. 

"oh! how rude of me. i didn't even introduce myself. i should have done that before i scared you. i truly am sorry for that by the way." red eyes smoothed his wrinkle-free shirt with a small smile that quickly showed those teeth of his. 

"anywho, i'm matt. matt hargroves." matt paused for a second. "i think you humans... 'shake hands'? you don't seem to be welcome to that sort of physical contact, so we'll skip that part." tom honestly couldn't lie. matt was startlingly charming, but tom figured that it was just some kind of weird vampire trick thing. he dismissed that thought, matt continuing to talk. 

"so, um, i'm your... faerie companion, so to speak. i'll be hanging around here for now on." tom opened his mouth to interrupt this incredibly upsetting stream of words, but matt simply smiled and held up his index finger.

"now, i may be a vampire, but i don't bite very often. not unless you want me to," matt finished with a faint smirk dancing on his lips. tom could feel a bunch of emotions ready to burst out of him at any second. 

"what the fuck do you mean?? you're going to be living in my house indefinitely? this is fucking insane!" tom slid off the couch armrest, and stomped over to the kitchen, matt following behind him. 

"you know what?" tom exclaimed, throwing open the front door. "this is bullshit. get out." matt quietly sputtered, his eyebrows knit together. 

"y... you don't seem to understand--" tom barked out a mirthless laugh, his foot keeping the door propped open. 

"i don't understand? i don't fucking understand?? i understand pretty well, you fucking freak. i understand that you'll leave right now or i'll--" something in his mind yelled for him to stop. he did exactly as told, dropping off mid-sentence. the voice in his mind told him to move out of the way, to shut the door, and he did, his body obeying the commands of something that definitely wasn't his own will. 

tom looked over at matt, and he discovered that matt was glowering at him, his feet firmly planted on the tile floor. 

"i'm sorry," matt said in what sounded like a million voices coming from everywhere at once. "do you want to finish that thought?" tom couldn't speak, couldn't move, and there was so much tension in the air. suddenly, it all fell away, matt reassuming his chipper, charming persona. tom could move his limbs again, though at a loss for words. matt grinned, showing his teeth. 

"i'm glad that's cleared up! i'd appreciate it if you could at least show me a little respect. i'm only here to protect you from various dangers, like a guardian angel, except with long fangs and bat wings." tom swallowed, reaching over to lock the door and noticing the groceries on the kitchen table. matt realized that tom wasn't exactly paying attention to him, and he snapped his fingers to get tom's attention. it did the trick, matt taking a deep breath. 

"look, tom. i don't want to have to mess with you mind all the time. it'll eventually turn your brain to mush and it gives me temporary wrinkles, so no thank you. please do try to be agreeable? i really do want to end up being friends." tom nodded slowly, matt smiling. tom opened his mouth to ask how the hell did he figure out his name, but matt stole the words right out of him. 

"your name? how did i know it?" matt asked, moving to the kitchen table and unloading the groceries inside the plastic bags. "i know lots of things, love. i do radiate pure perfection, don't i?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well hello again,,, i decided to post two chapters today instead of just one :0 i figured it would be more interesting that way ??
> 
> ive got the next chapter and a half typed up but i'm going to wait on posting those uwu,,, i just want to see how well this will do before i decide whether i want to keep updating or not,,,,,,


	4. prolonged eye contact is rather awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom discovers that matt's eyes are very mesmerizing. also, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is eaten.

tom had grudgingly started to warm up to his unwelcome guest. it took a solid three weeks for tom to actually start calling matt by his name and not by 'vampshit'. by the end of the third week, tom had found that he'd slipped into using the word 'vampshit' almost endearingly, like how some people use 'sweetheart' or 'pumpkin'.

matt was... interesting, to say the least. tom practically forgot that matt was a vampire sometimes until he'd remember that matt had an entire shelf of sunscreen in the bathroom for a reason. matt was just like most of the roommates tom had lived with over the years: messy, insufferable, lazy. even still, there was something that drew tom to him. tom would catch himself on the brink of laughing at one of matt's stupid vampire jokes or one of his playfully self-absorbed remarks.

"ooh," matt cooed, picking up the neighbor's cat and holding it in his arms. the neighbor had kicked it out again, therefore prompting tom to bring it inside his apartment for the millionth time. matt rocked the cat like a baby, nuzzling it. 

"now who's this?" he asked, scratching behind the cat's ear with two fingers. tom shrugged, looking at matt from their shared position on the sofa. 

"i don't know. the neighbor's cat, i guess," he offered in response, matt seeming to purr along with the animal.

"her name is ringo," matt said, softly murmuring at the gray furball. tom didn't even bother to ask how he knew. matt was simply like that. he appeared to know everything about everything. it was weird, but tom had gotten used to it. tom watched matt and ringo snuggle for a minute, noting that ringo seemed to like matt way more than him. tom's pride was slightly damaged by this new discovery.

"so, vampshit," tom said, grabbing the tv remote off the coffee table and flicking through all the channels. 

"yeah?" matt replied, gazing at tom with those striking red eyes of his. tom momentarily forgot what he was going to say, getting lost in those eyes. they were probably the purest red tom had ever seen, glistening like shiny pearls. matt merely blinked at him, his long eyelashes fluttering. 

"yeah?" matt repeated, looking confused as to what was happening. tom only then realized he was awkwardly prolonging eye contact, and quickly shifted his gaze to ringo, who was nuzzling up to matt's palm. 

"um... nevermind," he said, mentally acknowledging how awkward this was. "it was nothing." a ghost of a smile tugged at matt's lips, and they both turned back to the tv. tom had stopped at some sort of cooking show, and tom could have sworn he saw matt flinch out of the corner of his eye when the woman cooking put minced garlic in the pan. 

"you know," matt started, idly petting ringo. "where i come from, lasting eye contact means you're trying to form a deep connection with the other person." tom felt his ears heat, but he didn't respond. 

"not many people have stared into my eyes that long," matt continued. "i think i'm almost flattered--" tom hurriedly stood up from his spot on the couch, not ready for or okay with this conversation. 

"wow, okay, uh, this show is making me hungry. are you hungry? i'm gonna make a sandwich." matt just stared after him as he left the living room.

once safely alone in the kitchen, tom took a moment to actually take a breath. he attempted to ignore what had happened mere minutes ago and instead focus on making himself a sandwich. peanut butter and jelly sounded okay.

tom tried to remember the last time he'd had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as he got the needed ingredients from the fridge and the cabinets. his mind wandered to more pressing matters: the vampire in his living room. matt never seemed to leave the apartment, just hung around the living room and pretended to sleep in the guest bedroom. 

oh, yeah. turns out vampires don't have to sleep. once, tom had woken up to matt making fucking pancakes at one in the morning. they had a nice little discussion about that. the only thing that matt made at one in the morning nowadays was popcorn, so that was a slight improvement. 

tom tossed the dirty butter knife into the sink with a metallic clang, taking a bite of his sandwich. he immediately felt nostalgic. his mom used to make these for him all the time as a kid. tom sighed, staring aimlessly at his bread-crumby plate. maybe the nostalgia would help him forget about the present and the things it had waiting for him, like that one thing sitting in the living room, watching food network.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowie,,, im so happy that this is being received so well ????? i'm ??? ty?????
> 
> tomorrow im gonna post a v long & eventful chapter so look out for that ;))


	5. cat food and the unfortunate incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> several events drop themselves upon tom and his supernatural friend, and matt proves to be quite the pottymouth.

tom could hear matt's singing from the kitchen table. matt had recently discovered that he really loved to sing in the shower, and tom never heard the end of it. matt did happen to have a pretty nice voice, but tom really wasn't about to admit that to anyone, including himself.

ringo clawed her way up into tom's lap and tom mindlessly began to pet her. ringo had become seemingly residential, never leaving tom's apartment to go back to her actual home. tom was okay with this, and matt was ecstatic about it, since he had really fallen in love with the furball as his stay prolonged.

tom continued to pet ringo as he browsed the internet on his phone, shopping for checkered attire he honestly didn't need. the singing stopped, reducing to a faint, but constant, humming. matt was probably done with his shower now. the humming gradually became louder, and tom could hear matt pitterpattering down the hall and into the kitchen.

"we're out of shampoo," matt said, and tom then noticed that matt was standing in front of the fridge, writing 'shampoo' on the makeshift shopping list stuck on the fridge door. it took tom another second to realize that matt was practically naked, just there with a towel wrapped around him. tom immediately looked away, somewhat embarrassed by this.

"jesus, matt," he mumbled. "put some clothes on before you come out here." matt cast a glance over his pale shoulder, setting the pen he was writing with on the counter.

"sorry," he apologized in a tone that showed that he wasn't sorry at all. "i just didn't want to forget we don't have any more shampoo. i'll go put on some clothes if that will satisfy you." tom watched matt retreat out of the kitchen and back down the hall. there were two little bat wings tattooed on his back. it was almost cute. 

once matt was gone, tom looked at the time on the stove clock: 12:48. he should have fed ringo a while ago, but the cat didn't seem to be upset about that. 

tom shifted, setting ringo on the floor as he got up from his chair. he put his phone in his back pocket, walking to the cabinet where all the cat food was. he opened it and took out one of the bajillion cans of cat food, fishing in a nearby drawer for the can opener. finding what he needed, he proceeded to crank the can open. 

something ghosted tom's forearm, and tom started, dropping the can opener. matt had accidentally snuck up on him for the thousandth time. tom shot a frown over his shoulder to matt, who shrunk away. 

"quit sneaking up on me like that," he groused. "do you even make noise when you walk?" matt's fingers played with his newfound shirt, his eyes dotted with something like anxiety. he vaguely pointed to tom's hand and the can of cat food. 

"you're..." he started weakly, swallowing. "you're bleeding."

tom's gaze flicked to his hand, where the side of his left index finger was neatly slashed and dripping quite a bit of blood. the blood was starting to pool around the can, the tin flecked with the red liquid too.

"ah, shit," tom swore, his finger stinging. the gravity of the situation slowly settled on him, and he realized that this wasn't just a minor cut. matt was a fucking vampire.

"ah, shit," he repeated as he stood there feeling stupid. "uh, i'm sorry. i'm really sorry??" matt squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them, seemingly struggling to keep himself under control. one of them should have probably left the room, but they were both frozen in place. it was silent as matt carefully, cautiously, approached tom.

"i haven't... i haven't fed on anyone since i've gotten here," matt confessed, standing beside tom now with his gaze flicking between tom's hands and tom's eyes of void. "i hope you understand how... difficult that is for me. human food can only take me so far." they stared at each other for a long second, and tom was literally watching matt's pupils dilate. matt was becoming more strained, more exhausted, more ravenous by the minute, and tom bit his lip as he raised his dripping finger towards matt. 

"i'm so sorry," matt whispered, looking pained and a smidgen uncomfortable. "i never meant for this to happen, i promise." tom internally winced when he saw matt's fangs, matt taking tom's bleeding finger into his mouth. 

it was all too surreal. a vampire was sucking blood from his finger right now. a legitimate, real vampire. holy shit. this was the weirdest experience he'd ever had, hands down.

matt slid his mouth off tom's finger, taking a deep breath. tom wiped his finger on his shirt, and then investigated it. it wasn't bleeding anymore. there wasn't even a cut. just a smooth, perfect surface, as if nothing had happened at all. tom was confused, but he decided to let it go for now.

tom could tell matt wasn't satisfied. it was rather obvious, but tom wasn't sure why he offered his bare forearm to matt. matt's eyebrows shot up, and he searched tom's face. 

"i couldn't," he said, shaking his head a little.

"no, it's fine," tom insisted. "you're practically dying." matt searched his face a little longer before visibly giving in. he leaned down, his lips brushing tom's arm. tom quietly swore when matt's fangs started to pinch into his skin. they broke the surface and tom could tell when matt started to drink from him. 

the feeling of matt sucking his blood was... weird, like some kind of wacked out high. it was like he was there, but also not there, but also everywhere at the same time. tom had only gotten high a couple times in his life, preferring to stick with getting shitface-drunk, but this definitely felt like he was high.

after what seemed like forever and a half, matt pulled away from his arm. instantly, the hazy feeling was gone, and was replaced with an intense lightheadedness. tom nearly fell from disorientation and dizziness, but matt managed to catch him in the nick of time, leading him to one of the kitchen table's chairs. tom collapsed onto it once out of matt's grasp. 

"oh, shit," matt fretted, rushing to get a glass of water. "i took too much, didn't i? fuck! i'm so stupid." matt shakily handed tom the half-full glass, and tom began to drink the water in an equally shaky manner. 

"fuck, i'm... i'm sorry, i shouldn't have done that." tom set the glass on the table, feeling only marginally better. matt's gaze shot across the room. 

"you should probably... um... lay down. let me... let me help you to the couch." matt helped tom stand up, and semi-supported him on the walk to the living room. tom managed to settle down on the couch without any fatal injuries, and he suddenly felt really tired. matt caught sight of his drooping eyelids and snapped to attention from his spot on the floor.

"no! i cannot have you falling asleep," he said. "try to stay awake, okay?" matt took a deep breath, and tom could tell that matt had no idea what he was doing. 

"damnit, this is all my fault," matt groaned, burying his face in his hands. "i shouldn't have drank from you."

"no, it's okay," tom mumbled, fingering the four puncture marks on his arm with one hand. matt shook his head violently.

"no, it's not okay! i swore to myself that i wouldn't drink from you. it's just rude, you know? drinking the blood of the person that's letting you stay at their house."

"matt, it's fine," tom said with finality. "it's fine. i'll be fine. chill out, won't you? i really don't care if you drink my blood." matt didn't look like he believed it, shrugging. 

"just don't let me do it again, alright?"

"no promises," tom replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;))))
> 
> this was so long tho wow,,, i actually wasn't expecting it to be so long, but hey, it is what it is !! i like how it came out soooo :0c


	6. a conversation becomes very interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt reveals some intriguing new capabilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is much too short,,,,

matt refused to speak about the whole "drinking blood" incident. he even went as far as pretending it didn't happen, feigning confusion whenever tom would attempt to bring it up. it was starting to get annoying, and the puncture wounds on tom's arm were starting to look infected. neither of these developments were making tom any more agreeable. 

the kitchen was quiet, aside from the occasional clink of fork against bowl. tom had made ramen noodles for the both of them, his cooking expertise only going so far. he cast a subtle glare across the table to matt, who was slurping up his noodles like a seven year old. matt's eyebrows raised when he caught sight of tom's evil eye and he wiped his mouth with his hoodie sleeve.

"why are you looking at me like that?" he questioned, twirling his noodles around and around his fork. 

"why are you being so damn difficult?" tom shot back. he stabbed his fork into his bowl several times to release some of his irritation. 

"i'm not sure what--" tom cut matt off before he could finish. 

"you know exactly what i mean! y'know, the whole "i drank tom's blood and the wound is infected, oops!" thing? i'm pretty sure that actually happened and i wasn't hallucinating." matt's brows knit together when he frowned, setting his fork on the table next to his bowl.

"it's infected?" tom sighed with exasperation, pulling up his shirt sleeve to reveal four purple, relatively swollen puncture wounds on his forearm. matt made a soft noise, seemingly shrinking into himself. 

"oh wow," he murmured, looking guilty as he played with a stray lock of hair. "that looks awful. i'm so sorry." there was a heavy moment of silence before matt reached across the table and touched tom's affected forearm lightly. they shared a long glance, trading silent words.

"i can fix it if you want," matt offered finally. "it'd be a shame if that scarred. you really do have lovely skin." tom didn't have time to be flattered, matt sticking a finger in his mouth and rubbing his spit on tom's arm before he could even say anything. tom recoiled a little, disgusted to an extent.

"ew, dude. what the fuck--" matt shushed him with a look and tom watched matt stare intently at his arm for a solid thirty seconds. tom felt like all his blood was pumping faster; like his immune system had suddenly started working double time. right before tom's eyes, the infection cleared up, just like that. 

tom gaped at matt as the vampire wiped the spit from his arm. the wounds were gone too, no scarring, just smooth, normal skin. he felt his arm, touching the spot where the infection had been. there was nothing. 

"holy shit!" tom said, stunned. "how did you do that?" matt smiled sheepishly, shrugging. 

"it's just something i learned to do when i was younger. i was a medik's assistant when i was fourteen." tom blinked, unsure what to do with this new information. the whole time matt had been here so far, he had revealed nothing about himself, evading the subject every time tom got curious and asked. matt would wave it off and change the topic to something about how perfect he was or how ringo needed feeding. the fact that matt had lowered his defenses about his life previous to the one he had here piqued tom's interest, but it was probably best if he didn't push it. 

tom lowered his sleeve, satisfied with how this conversation had gone. he went to take a bite of his ramen noodles, but he quickly discovered they'd gone cold, as did matt. matt gently pushed his bowl of noodles away from him, smiling faintly. 

"can we just eat ice cream?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu i don't have the next chapter all finished yet,, so there might be a delay on posting it :0000 ive also started school, so delays are,,, more likely now :')


	7. a sleepy talk after some noodles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more ramen noodles are consumed, and tom is very, very tired.

tom had somehow caught a stomach bug. he'd been vomiting for three days, too exhausted and drained to get out of bed in the morning. it was nice to have matt around, since the vampire seemed to cater to tom's every need, even if tom hadn't asked him to do anything at all. 

matt had perfected the art of making ramen noodles, and tom was enjoying a hot, steaming bowl of them at that moment. he couldn't really taste it, cold symptoms tagging along with his stomach virus, but he figured that the noodles tasted pretty good.

"does it taste okay?" matt asked, sitting on the edge of tom's bed and watching him eat. 

"yeah, it tastes fine," tom replied, sniffing. "i hope i'll be able to keep it down, though." he shoved a fair amount of noodles into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully and pointing at matt with his fork. the vampire was picking at stray threads on the checkered blanket draped over the bed. 

"you know, i think i don't hate you," tom confessed, wiping ramen juice from his chin. matt looked up at him, a confused expression invading his perfect features. 

"th... thanks?" he said in a very uncertain way, as if he couldn't tell whether he should be taking that statement as a compliment or a gentle insult. tom nodded once, proceeding to slurp up more noodles from the nearly empty bowl. tom felt matt look at him for a long moment before returning to mindlessly picking at stray threads on the fuzzy blanket.

tom finished his bowl of noodles and set the dishes onto the adjacent nightstand. he slunk under the sheets, his stomach twisting up in painful, writhing knots. he probably shouldn't have eaten those noodles. he was burning up under the covers, but he knew that if he removed some of them, he'd be freezing his ass off. anyway, he was starting to get sleepy, the lingering warmth of the ramen in his throat tiring him out. matt noticed tom starting to nod off, reaching out and touching his cheek lightly. 

tom groaned softly, opening his eyes halfway to gaze at the ginger at the foot of his bed. matt offered a small smile, scooting a little closer. 

"i hope you feel better," he said, brushing tom's short bangs from his hot forehead. matt's touch was cool, almost refreshing, and he found that he didn't mind matt touching him, as he usually would at any other given occasion. 

"me too," tom mumbled back, matt's crimson eyes practically mesmerizing him. matt smiled again in this maternal way, his fingers drifting away from tom's face and settling onto his lap. 

"do you mind if i stay here?" matt asked tentatively after a stretch of silence. tom had almost dozed off, matt's words partially waking him. he mumbled a "no", suddenly much too tired to protest against matt hanging around. matt paused, then stood up and walked around the bed, sitting down on the opposite side. tom watched matt swing his legs onto the bed and lay down. tom blinked slowly, his brain working way slower at this level of sleep deprivation. he didn't necessarily say that matt could go ahead and sleep next to him, but at this point he didn't much care. 

"you're gonna get sick," tom said, directing the statement to matt as he tiredly stared at the ceiling. matt made a soft noise. 

"i don't really get sick," matt responded, shifting onto his side to face tom in all his sleepy glory. tom turned his head to look at the pale, freckled being lying next to him. matt gave a tiny smile, his red eyes meeting tom's depths of nothing. 

the thought of 'oh, vampires don't sleep; matt's just gonna be here watching me pass out of exhaustion' occurred to tom, but he was too tired to acknowledge that thought. he didn't much care about that either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is filler lololol
> 
> next chapter will be
> 
> less filler-y
> 
> if you will


	8. deep thoughts with alcohol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt is a little handsy, and tom thinks deeply about his relationships.

the sheets were all bunched up and askew when tom awoke. there was something pressed against his back, something warm. tom sniffed, rubbing his eyes. an object that was shaped like an arm was draped over him, and it took him a solid ten seconds to realize that this object was, in fact, an arm. with a start, he also realized that his little supernatural friend was a serious cuddler.

it sounded like matt was sleeping, it really did. if matt was faking it, he sure was doing a hell of a good job. matt's face was nestled into the crook of tom's neck, and at least every body part matt had was touching one of tom's. the ginger had definitely made himself comfortable. 

tom could smell the passionfruit shampoo in matt's hair from this close of a distance. tom was frozen in his spot, not exactly knowing what to do. he wasn't necessarily a touchy-feely kinda guy, but at the same time, he didn't want want to disturb matt and his very-realistic-but-probably-fake nap. matt shifted just a tad, his lips softly brushing against the skin of tom's neck. 

oh, shit. this was gay. this was really gay. he needed to get out of this situation before something awkward happened. but the whole situation in its entirety was... so very... awkward. matt mumbled something incoherent against tom's neck, the words sending vibrations and goosebumps all over his skin. 

tom slipped out of matt's grasp almost reluctantly, blearily standing up and stretching. his head pounded. jeez, it was like he had a cold, a stomach bug, and a hangover all at the same time. once he was actually standing up for what felt like the first time in ages, he dully noted that he felt considerably worse, not even a little better. he even thought about crawling back into bed with matt, the handsy vampire. 

out of the corner of his eye, matt stirred, sitting up after a couple of quiet moments. tom watched him rub the sleep out of his eyes and yawn like a small cat. tom was bewildered. that nap was apparently real. 

"i thought you don't sleep," tom deadpanned to matt, who was still waking up. matt smiled this half-awake smile, sticking his hands up his black shirt.

"i forced myself into a state of unconsciousness. i do it every three or four weeks to keep myself looking radiant," he explained, tilting his head and closing his eyes. matt looked peaceful in that moment, and tom admired matt's flawless features for a second before looking away. there's only so much perfect one person can take. 

matt opened his eyes when tom settled back down on the bed, standing overexerting him. he was already tired again. it was quiet for another moment, aside from matt humming a tune softly to himself. fed up with his physical state, tom reached into his nightstand drawer and pulled out a silver flask. matt's humming slowed as tom unscrewed the cap and took a nice swig of something strong. he had absolutely no idea how long that flask had been in his nightstand or what type of alcoholic beverage it contained, but, hey. it was alcohol. tom simply couldn't go wrong. 

"are you sure that you're okay enough to be drinking... whatever that is?" matt asked slowly, watching tom take a couple more drinks out of the flask. 

"nope," tom said, raising the flask in a mock toast before taking another throat-stinging drink. his stomach rolled. he really shouldn't be drinking right now, but the rampaging alcoholic inside of him refused to put up the flask. 

it was silent for a good deal of time before matt scooted a little closer, the bedsheets rustling under him. matt was wearing these dorky above-the-knee shorts that he unsurprisingly pulled off, and matt's bare, freckled calf unintentionally rubbed up against tom's pant leg. 

"can i try some?" matt asked, his red eyes flecked with curiosity. tom shrugged and handing matt the flask, somewhat relieved to not be drinking that hard liquor anymore. somewhat. tom watched matt investigate the silver flask, sniffing the contents hesitantly. his cute button nose wrinkled at the smell and, after a beat, he took a careful sip. tom started to laugh when matt's eyes widened at how strong it was, beginning to cough. 

matt thrust the container back to tom, gasping for a proper breath. tom was practically dying of laughter. he'd never seen someone react so violently to alcohol. 

"woah--" matt sputtered out, still coughing a bit. "how the heck do you drink that??" tom shrugged again, casting an amused glance at matt. 

"tolerance," he informed, taking another swig. "and lots of getting wasted as fuck." the rim of the flask tasted very faintly of strawberries. it dawned on him that he'd forgotten to wipe the remnants of matt from his flask. he'd just tasted what he thought to be matt's strawberry lip balm. it was technically an indirect kiss. tom had just indirectly kissed his vampire roommate.

he felt surprisingly okay about it. it was true that matt was one of the most attractive people tom knew, and compared to matt's utter perfection, tom was basically the less attractive side character who was probably a stoner.

still, the fact that he'd just drank matt's backwash didn't bother him at all. with anyone else, it most likely would've. these thoughts unsettled tom. besides the evident and pressing fact that matt was a supernatural bloodsucker, there really wasn't anything special about him. 

no, no. that's wrong. there were plenty of special things about him--

tom cut off his train of thought by guzzling the alcohol until the flask was empty. these thoughts were going nothing to alleviate his cold/stomach virus/hangover thing. if anything, they were just stressing him out. tom blearily looked around the room, his gaze resting on matt, who was once again humming to himself. his eyes were closed and the tune he was humming sounded oddly familiar. an elvis song, maybe?

tom sighed quietly. he was much too sober for all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was this gay enough
> 
> it's not as gay as i'd like it to be but don't worry friends
> 
> it will get gayer


	9. almost but not even close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom almost gets what he wants, but matt takes it away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: ok i proofread this and its all good for your enjoyment ;)))))c
> 
> also sorry ;)

tom adapted as much as he could to his vampire friend and the little feline friend that appeared to come with the whole vampire package. matt and ringo were inseparable. it was actually quite cute; tom would come home from work at the grocery store and be greeted by a cheerful matt cuddling the sleepy cat in the dim living room. whenever tom wasn't around, matt would close all the blinds and curtains and just chill out with ringo in the dark.

tom came home to these types of scenes a lot. matt loved, loved, loved the dark, which was justified. sometimes tom would draw the curtains and dim all the rooms just to hear matt gush about how wonderful the dark was.

it was weird though, something had happened between them and it was very, very odd. tom had no idea what the hell had happened. suddenly matt making food at ungodly hours of the morning and walking around in only a towel didn't bother him. like, at all. matt's quirks used to peeve tom so much, but all of a sudden, it was nothing. matt sticking his hand in the bowl of popcorn and not taking it out for a solid two minutes when they watched a movie didn't bother him anymore. neither didn't matt's abrupt belting of song lyrics during any and all conversations. in fact, tom found all of these idiosyncrasies, dare he say it, almost charming.

if matt were anybody else on the face of the planet, tom would not be thinking about any of these things. but matt was matt, and that matt was driving him insane and he had no idea why. tom would feel weird whenever matt was around, and even when we wasn't around. even when tom'd be at work, scanning groceries for someone, he'd get that weird feeling.

angry butterflies would assault his stomach when matt would dance to a new cheesy pop song in the living room or when he would offer to paint tom's nails when he was painting his own. tom hated this feeling, whatever the hell it was.

"tom," matt said, dragging tom out of his world of thoughts. "you were saying something?" tom blinked, confused. he'd been saying something? they were in the bathroom, tom sitting on the sink countertop watching matt slather sunscreen on his pale legs like lotion. it was matt's routine, even though he never went outside.

"nnno?" tom replied slowly, mentally counting the freckles on matt's right forearm without thinking. "i totally forgot what i was saying." matt laughed, a noise that made tom feel that weird feeling again. matt squirted another blob of sunscreen into his palm, standing up from his seat on the toilet lid as he dabbed little splotches of sunscreen on his face.

"you said something about susan and then you totally trailed off, staring into the abyss," matt explained, kneading the sunscreen into his skin. tom shrugged, not knowing where he left off in the conversation he'd apparently been having with matt. matt came over to him, nearly standing in between tom's legs.

"hold out your hand," he instructed, and tom squinted at him warily. matt rolled his eyes and repeated himself. tom hesitantly held out his hand, and matt promptly wiped the excess sunscreen from his palm onto tom's hand.

"spf 70," matt said with a wink. "protect yourself, love."

"maaatt," tom half-groaned-half-whined. "i'm not deathly pale like you." matt set his face in a cute mock pout, and tom told himself to stop thinking that everything matt did or said was cute.

"are you making fun of my wonderful complexion?" he gasped with a level of drama only matt could pull off. tom laughed, rubbing the sunscreen on his arms involuntarily. the sunscreen smelled like... oranges, maybe.

"no, but i am making fun of how translucent you are," tom said through his laughter. matt tried to hold in his laughter, but a giggle slipped out.

"translucent," he repeated, giggling. matt investigated his freckled arms. "i don't seem to be completely transparent." tom playfully shoved matt away from him, matt giving a look that read "nuh uh, you did not just push me". matt pushed tom back, tom nearly falling onto the counter. he laughed, the teasing shoves continuing back and forth.

when matt almost shoved tom into the bathroom mirror, tom trapped the ginger between his legs, hooking his ankles together behind matt's back. matt was giggling, his hands resting on tom's thighs. the corners of matt's eyes crinkled gently when he smiled and laughed, and tom found himself feeling that feeling again. their laughter died down, and they both realized how close they were, their noses only a few inches apart from touching. matt bit his bottom lip, his gaze shooting between tom's night sky eyes to his mouth. tom could feel matt's breath on his face.

tom's heart hammered in his ribcage as he leaned in very carefully, his eyelids fluttering. he could hear matt's breath hitch when their lips barely grazed each other, and the next thing tom knew, matt had turned away, leaving him shocked. matt escaped tom's leg prison and stepped away from him, tucking some stray hairs behind his ear.

"i'm sorry," matt mumbled, giving tom a look that he couldn't read before turning slowly on his heel and swiftly leaving the bathroom. tom merely stared after him, not able to comprehend what had just happened.

a few moments passed and tom buried his face in his hands. that hurt. that really hurt, like matt had gotten a plastic spoon and carved a hole in his heart. frankly, he was crushed. he'd almost had it; he'd been _this_ close, but matt had just taken a giant step away from him, sending tom all the way back to square one.

was that kiss really what he wanted anyway? did he really want to kiss his vampire housemate? his loud, insufferable, needy, annoying, quirky, cute, perfect, gorgeous, flawless vampire housemate?

yes, he realized. yes, he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops i didn't mean to do that
> 
> i'm lying yes i did
> 
> next chapter ;)) will be ;))) eventful ;;))))


	10. confrontation doesn't bring solace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom makes some bad decisions, and matt is rather upset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is sort of suggestive oOpS

tom spent the next few days avoiding matt and questioning his sexuality. the only true way to avoid matt was to leave the apartment, and tom would walk to the bar down the street and get shitfaced every night so he wouldn't have to see matt's stupidly attractive face. it was a foolproof plan, though he was going to work with wicked hangovers in the morning. 

on one particular night, tom had found himself drunkenly spewing his problems all out to the bartender and the blonde girl who'd made herself comfortable on his lap. in the back of his mind, he knew they weren't listening, the blonde seeming to be more interested on what was in his pants, but that wasn't stopping him. he let the girl do whatever she was doing, which wasn't anything serious yet, as he complained about the fucking ginger in his fucking apartment. 

tom came back home that night much more drunk and sex-tussled than he would've liked, but, hey. if matt wasn't going to give it to him, he might as well find someone else to. the stove clock read 3:03 in the morning, and tom groaned to himself. he had work in five hours. if he showered quick enough, he might be able to crash and get at least four hours of sleep. 

he passed matt on the couch watching early morning reruns of cartoons with ringo, and he managed to pass him and keep walking without either of them saying anything. he stumbled into the bathroom, squinting at the bright light when he flipped the light switch. he looked in the mirror and acknowledged that he looked and felt like a hot pile of shit.

he turned and started the shower, starting to undress. when he pulled off his shirt, he discovered a plethora of hickeys on the right side of his collarbone and an equally abundant amount on both sides of his neck. he was going to be stuck with these stupid marks for nearly a week, he realized with a groan. he didn't even know the girl's fucking name. alyssa? ashleigh? arden, maybe?

tom stepped into the scalding shower, letting the water run all down his body. hopefully the steaming water would burn the smell of that girl's sickly sweet perfume off his skin. he felt a little guilty. he normally didn't fuck random girls from the bar. but he had been drunk and hurt and incredibly desperate.

still, maybe he'd imagined that he'd been kissing matt's lips, running his finger through matt's hair, feeling matt's body under him...

man, he really was gay, wasn't he. there was a line, and tom had totally taken a huge step across that line. he literally just had sex with some girl, and now he was having these gay ass thoughts. there was probably a term for that, but at this point, tom was way too exhausted to think hard about anything. 

after a little while, tom got out of the shower. he was not going to be in a proper state to stand at the customer service desk all day long later today. the bathroom floor seemed like a really good place to pass out to tom's half drunk mind, but he managed to wrap himself in a towel and practically crawl to his room. he pulled on a pair of boxers once there and collapsed onto his messy bed, losing all consciousness as soon as his face hit the pillows. 

in the morning, tom woke up late. horribly late, in fact. it had just turned ten when he had groggily awoken. he was supposed to have been up and gone by 7:55, but apparently the alarm on his phone had decided to not go off. tom pinched the bridge of his nose, his head pounding. he might as well not go in anyway.

it smelled like matt was making breakfast, the scent of freshly toasted waffles wafting under tom's door. honestly, tom didn't want to go out and face matt in all his disgusting, hungover, hickey-covered glory. especially not after the failed kiss, or what had happened last night. he managed to successfully avoid matt for four days, but today, he kind of wanted to... what? apologize? apologize for what?

tom groaned loudly and flipped off the ceiling. today was going to be just wonderful. he climbed reluctantly out of bed, searching the messy floor for a shirt or something. he picked up a hoodie that didn't seem to reek and put it on with no little effort. he wasn't going to put on pants. boxers would do fine.

tom zombied his way to the kitchen to find matt at the stove making scrambled eggs. tom rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, rummaging in the medicine cabinet for something for his headache. 

"good morning," he mumbled in matt's general direction after a stretch of time. matt glared at him from his spot at the stove as he transitioned the eggs from the pan to a nearby plate. 

"oh, so you're talking to me now," he droned, moving to the fridge and taking the ketchup from the door. tom rubbed his temple, grabbing the tylenol and getting a glass. he heard matt squirt ketchup on top of his eggs, running the tap and filling his glass with slightly lukewarm water. 

"i don't get why you're mad," tom grumbled to himself, downing the pill and half of the water in one gulp. matt scoffed, slamming the fridge door closed when he put away the ketchup.

"you don't get why i'm mad? you don't get it??" matt said with a humorless laugh. "of course i'm fucking mad! you completely avoided me, ignored me, acted like i didn't exist for four fucking days! how can i not be mad?" tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pressing his palms together. 

"look, i avoided you because i thought that you didn't like me after that shit i pulled. you make me feel weird, okay? when i'm around you, i feel like i'm losing my mind." matt looked incredibly offended, but tom was only telling the truth. all these thoughts and feelings he was having about and for matt were driving him insane. he couldn't handle it anymore. 

"what the fuck?" matt exclaimed, angrily raking his fingers through his hair. "i make you lose your mind?? do you have any idea how badly i'm losing my mind? i have to eat your fucking human food. i can't go outside. for christ's sake, i haven't drank blood in the longest fucking time! i can almost feel the years draining from my life." tom made a showy gesture towards the door. 

"the door's right there! you can leave any time you fucking please." matt's last threads of sanity were unraveling before tom's very eyes. 

"you don't understand. you don't know what my world looks like," matt bit out, his jaw clenched. "you have no fucking idea what it's like for me out there, to be alone, and on my own. besides! i have to be here! it's my job!" the words coming out of matt's mouth were very upsetting, and if anything, they were making tom's headache worse. 

"well, i fucked up!" he yelled, cutting off what matt had been saying. matt stiffened, his hands balling into fists. 

"i fucked up," tom repeated, in a lower and steadier tone of voice. "i fucked up by thinking that there could be something more between us than some sort of weird-human coexistence. i fucked up by feeling freaky shit for you and i fucked up by sleeping with some girl to mask the pain from your rejection. i fucked up, okay? i really fucked it up." tom felt drained, empty, now that he had revealed all the feelsy shit he had inside of him. matt didn't move a muscle for a couple seconds before crossing the distance between them in a few long strides. 

matt gave tom an angry, sour look for a long moment, then all at once, he slapped him. he slapped him hard, tom's cheek stinging painfully. he didn't even have time to be upset about it because matt grabbed the front of his hoodie in his fists, pulling tom down three inches and giving him a hot, angry kiss. the kiss conveyed everything matt wasn't saying and it exposed everything matt was feeling on the inside. a flaming flush of anger, the cold and subtle hatred, a love that was almost palpable, but soft and sad and broken. 

matt broke away, promptly looking tom in the face with a softer, more solemn expression. 

"yeah, you really fucked it up," he murmured, letting go of tom's hoodie and smoothing it out. "you fucked it up, and i'm gone." tom's eyes widened as matt clicked his tongue at ringo, who had been sitting on the kitchen table this whole time. ringo hopped off the table and followed matt to the front door.

"matt--" tom called frantically, not believing this was actually happening right now. matt didn't even look back or spare tom a glance, slamming the door behind him when he left and taking ringo with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hEY AT LEAST THEY KISSED
> 
> i'm sooooo tempted to just end this fic right here but that's Fuckin Evil™ and i'm not that soulless
> 
> no but rt i have so much more planned for this fnsbfbjsjd like i can barely contain myself


	11. alone with his thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom thinks too hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very short aaa,,, longer stuff will come!! i swear fbsjnds

matt didn't come back any time that afternoon. the apartment was uncomfortably quiet with no giggly, know-it-all vampire to fill up space. there were pieces of matt everywhere, ginger hair caught in a brush on the bathroom counter, the untidy guest bedroom, bright orange packages of ramen noodles in the kitchen cupboard. 

tom was lonely.

he hadn't felt lonely in so long, always being content with being alone and having social interaction at the most minimum level possible. his companions were his alcohol and susan. mostly his alcohol. he used to drink too much to cope with being by himself, but when matt had burst into his apartment and into his life, his alcoholic tendencies went way down.

after the month and a half that matt had lived in tom's much too small flat, tom discovered that he didn't like being alone. being alone sucked, and he hated it more than he ever thought possible. now, his companions were once again susan and his always faithful alcohol. he could never go wrong with those two by his side. they helped him deal with difficult circumstances.

for the past two hours or so, tom had been sitting at the kitchen table, inhaling smirnoff bottle after bottle. matt's breakfast of ketchupy eggs with waffles were still on the counter next to the stove. he wondered if matt was hungry. he wondered why matt had left. didn't he say that it was his job to be here? what did that even mean?

tom buried his head into his arms. he needed to stop drinking. he knew he did, but he still felt like shit. had he been in love? was he still in love? is that why his heart jumped out of his chest every time matt was on his mind? man, these thoughts made him feel shittier. tom lifted his head to take another swig of alcohol. 

he was going to get as shitfaced as he possibly could, and he was going to pass out at the kitchen table, and he'd forgot all about the shit going on around him for just a moment. that was his plan, and if that plan failed, he was probably going to cry softly to himself and ghost about his apartment, maybe watch some porn to temporarily fill up that aching hole inside of him. 

tom thought about the kiss matt had given him, his gaze trained on the door. it had been too short. matt had tasted absolutely perfect, like mint leaves and peaches, and his lips had been round and soft against tom's chapped ones. matt had pulled away, and tom saw the flicker of that look in his eyes, that spark of wanting, a little start to a flame. but matt had promptly pinched out that flame, walking right out of tom's sad, sad life. 

fuck.

tom swirled the remaining alcohol around in his bottle. his stomach plummeted to the depths of hell, and he knew that he'd been shot smack dab through the heart. matt had shot him with the way he walked, the way he spoke, the way he slowly lifted his gaze from one thing to another, the way he danced, the way he cuddled up to tom in his sleep, the way he existed. 

fuck!

it was coming so clear to him now. he'd fallen. he'd fallen terribly hard for the vampire he'd tried his best to hate. matt just had to take a breath and tom would be fucking gone. he kept thinking about the kiss. he wanted more of that. no, he needed more of that. he needed it, he needed matt to live. 

fuck!!

why was this coming to him now? had he really been shoving down all the emotions and thoughts he'd been having? apparently so, because tom knew now. he knew, and he wasn't going to let matt go that easily. matt wouldn't be able to slip through his fingers, that was for sure. 

tom just... needed to stop drinking first. then he'd find matt, wherever he was.


	12. a rather ironic hiding place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt is hiding in an unlikely place, and tom's neck is violated.

two days had passed, and tom had finally stopped drinking himself into oblivion, having recovered from his most recent skull-shattering hangover. he’d gotten so tired of coming home to a silent, empty apartment for the past couple of days, so he forced himself to leave the apartment and go out to look for matt.

it was probably about ten at night when tom went out to look for matt, and ringo by extension. he had absolutely no idea where matt could’ve gone, so he spent a solid fifteen minutes driving around the neighborhood.

“if i were a vampire, where would i be?” tom muttered to himself, slowing at a stop sign. he tried to think. tom felt like matt wasn’t like most vampires. he was extra, rather high maintenance. he needed somewhere with a functional bathroom and some sort of constant food source. maybe the library? or maybe a… church?

that’d be terribly ironic, though, but tom had a feeling that he just might be onto something. as long as matt didn't touch the holy water and all the silver shit, he’d be fine, right?

after a couple of quiet moments of driving, tom pulled up to the first desolate-looking church he saw. it was one of those old catholic churches, with the stained glass windows and the eerie little cemetery on the side. tom shut off and got out of the car, staring at the massive building.

he carefully approached the doors, a little sign reading the times of mass and sunday school beside the door handle. tom turned on his phone’s flashlight, pulling open one of the doors with a loud, cringey creak. he slipped inside, greeted by a musty smell and dingy carpet.

tom examined the huge church, the pews lined up neatly in front of a dramatically decorated altar. he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been in a church. he wasn’t explicitly religious, the whole jehovah’s witness thing mostly being his mom’s ordeal. he tagged along with her on some of their meetings when he was younger, startled by how incredibly boring they were. he’d begged his mom to stop taking him, and she obliged, eventually not attending the meetings herself.

tom wandered around the church, almost tripping over a bump in the carpet. there was a door off the side of the altar, and tom snuck into that room as quietly as he could.

the room was pitch black, aside from tom’s bright beam of flashlight. the flooring was hardwood here, and his steps echoed softly as he walked around the medium sized room. there was a dusty piano in the back corner, a small kitchenette to the left of the room. the fridge hummed in that way that fridges do as tom walked into another side room, his phone illuminating the chipped, peeling wallpaper.

the side room turned out to be a small, but seemingly working, bathroom. tom paused, squinting at the grimy sink countertop. it was so silent in this church, and it was almost unsettling. he couldn’t even hear the crickets from outside. something darted across the other room with the old piano. it was probably a rat, though it was probably the biggest rat tom had ever seen.

tom shined his flashlight into the mirror, blinking when the light was reflected back at him. there was a shower-bathtub combination behind him, the shower curtain shielding the inside from view. tom sighed, turning to leave the bathroom and coming face to face with distant red eyes. tom let out a startled gasp, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest.

“fucking hell,” he said before he could think about what he was saying, shining the light up and down matt’s tired, messy figure. “you scared the shit out of me, dude.” matt said nothing, not even blinking for almost ten seconds before rushing tom, pushing him up against the back wall of the bathroom. tom gave a soft “oof”, dropping his phone accidentally. it made a sickening crack when it hit the bathroom floor.

tom had little time to mourn his most-likely-shattered phone screen, because matt was breathing hot and ragged on the skin of his neck. he heard matt take a shaky, deep breath and begin to lick all down tom’s exposed neck. tom swore under his breath. this was not the first thing that came to mind when he thought of finding matt.

matt’s fangs started to dig into the side of tom’s neck, teasing on the brink of painful. a hot flush of pain then shot up his neck when matt pierced the surface of his skin. the weird high feeling faded into his senses, thoughts of “it’s fine”, “don’t struggle, okay?”, and “this’ll be over soon” whipped through his mind in a voice that wasn’t his own conscience.

matt kept hitting him with reassuring mental walls as he greedily consumed tom’s life force. there was something about matt’s lip on his skin that sent chills crawling up his spine like spiders.

after what felt like a million years, matt detached from tom’s neck, his breaths heavy and wavering. this whole situation was oddly familiar, dizziness flooding into tom’s senses. matt was still pushed up against him, and that was probably the only reason why he was still upright. matt mumbled something akin to an apology under his breath, slowly removing himself from tom’s figure. tom promptly crumbled to the cold tile floor, his knees way too weak to keep him standing.

he was exhausted. the vampire he thought he loved had just gone to town on his neck as if it belonged to him. tom hadn’t even attempted to struggle or push him off, just let him do it. what did that say about the both of them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't going to post this until later today but fuck it,, im probably going to post chapter 13 v v soon because i have nothing else to do right now
> 
> also i read on wikipedia that vampires are said to not be able to walk on consecrated ground/churches/temples but by that time, i had already written at least half of this chapter and i was like,,, "oh i should fix this but i dont want to ughhh" so yeah
> 
> that happened


	13. appropriately confessing sins in church

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt tells tom something that he really didn't want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i wrote this at 11 pm last night and i just edited it today and lol shit y'all are gonna hate me

tom woke up in the very same bathroom he had apparently fallen asleep in. there was a presence next to him, one that he quickly identified as matt once he woke up a little more. matt looked more youthful than tom had last properly seen him. tom watched matt pick at the dirty tile grout for a moment before gently bumping shoulders with him.

mat looked up at him with a guilty, sorrowful expression. they didn’t say anything to each other, the looks they exchanged speaking volumes on their own. after a while, matt shifted his gaze away from tom, biting that perfect bottom lip of his.

“i’m such a dick,” matt finally muttered quietly. tom didn’t make any move to protest; he simply felt at the crusty, dried blood on the side of his neck. matt stared briefly at the ceiling, his eyebrows coming together.

“i’m sorry,” he murmured. “i’m so sorry. i treat you like shit. i’m so needy and high maintenance and over the top, and you put up with all my crap and i don’t know how the hell you do it.” matt looked at him again, a pained smile reaching his mouth.

“i walked out on you with the intention of never coming back, of never seeing your face ever again, and here you are. you’re right here after all the shit i’ve done.” matt put out a finger, like he was about to list all the shit he’d done.

“i waltzed right into your house--” matt displayed his finger for emphasis. “--i rejected your kiss--” another finger. “--i stole your cat--” a third finger. “--i fought with you and proceeded to walk right back out of your house--” a fourth and a fifth finger. “--and i just drank at least half of your blood for my own personal gain, and notably without your permission.” matt held up his hands to show his six extended fingers before digging his nails into his palms. he fell silent, and tom gave into the urge of placing his hand on matt’s thigh.

“it’s fine,” he said. “you’re safe and okay, and that’s all that matters.” matt looked at him and shook his head, that pained smile still there. he brushed tom’s hand off his thigh, taking a deep breath.

“you don’t understand, tom. it’s not fine. it’s not fine at all.” matt shook his head harder, like he was trying to banish thoughts from his mind. he took another one of those shaking breaths, the sunlight from the other room filtering into the bathroom.

“promise me that you won’t despise me after what i tell you.” tom was a little confused as to why matt wanted him to promise.

“sure, i guess.” matt fixed him with a stern look, seeming increasingly desperate.

“promise me, tom. i need you to promise me.” tom put his hands up in surrender.

“okay, fine! i promise.” _i don’t think i could ever hate you_ , was what he wanted to add but didn’t. matt looked like he was about to start crying, wrapping his arms around himself. there was a heavy moment of hesitation.

“i killed someone,” matt finally blurted, causing tom’s eyes to widen and his brows to raise to questionable heights. he opened his mouth to say something, but matt cut him off by going on.

“well, i sort of killed someone,” he corrected in a rush. “basically, i happened to be there when people i knew personally were killing this person, and i didn’t do anything to stop it.” he really did look on the brink of tears, pathetically opening and closing his mouth wordlessly.

“in our defense, we were ravenous, and a starving vampire is not a nice vampire, but that doesn’t make it okay at all. it had been me, my father, and a friend of my father’s that night. we hadn’t drank blood in the longest time, our whole community had been deprived of blood because of the lack of humans stumbling upon our grounds. we’d even resorted to drinking the blood of animals and other vampires just to satisfy our thirst.

“a-anyway, it was late, and dark. we’d come across a man walking to his car from his workplace, a… university of some sort. it had been my father’s idea to jump him, and we agreed on it, me somewhat reluctantly. i’d never directly drank anyone’s blood before then, my mother usually giving me bottled blood.” matt made a face, staring at his hands.

“gross,” he mumbled. “i’m practically an adult, and i still drank bottled blood. that’s pretty pitiful. that night was the first time i’d ever drank from someone directly, though the man was already dead and bleeding out on the concrete by the time i got to him.” matt’s chin wobbled, and he let loose the tears he’d been holding back for so long.

“i’d never tasted blood like his in my entire life,” he continued through his tears. “it was almost sweet, like fruit, and as soon as i’d pulled away from his body, i knew i fucked up. and that i fucked up really bad.” the gears were starting to turn in tom’s mind. this story sounded a little too familiar. matt was near sobbing now.

“i felt so guilty, so awful and evil and just vile that i ran away from my family. i had to get away from it, i had to. i ended up finding out who the man was, and i felt so, so, so terrible and i had to say i was sorry, i had to apologize to the people i had hurt, but it took me so long to find who i was looking for.

“it took me two years, tom, and i still haven’t said i’m sorry, i’m so, so, so sorry because i lied when i said that i’d never tasted blood like that man’s in my entire life. when i drank your blood for the first time, you tasted exactly like him, sweet, like fruit, like pineapples, and i--” matt broke down, sobbing and begging for tom to forgive him, pleading through the flood of tears.

"tom, i'm so sorry!" he cried, blindly reaching out to grab something of tom's, anything. "i'm so sorry!" tom moved just out of matt's grasp, horrified. he was horrified with what he had heard, horrified with himself for ever considering that he loved this vampire.

"you killed him," he breathed, his chest tightening. "he's dead now. buried in the fucking ground. my mom almost offed herself because of it. _i_ almost offed myself because of it." matt was bawling, deep, trembling breaths accompanying shaking shoulders and wet eyes. tom managed to stand up, matt blubbering a sad "tom, no, tom, please don't go".

tom turned his back to matt, belatedly realizing that his own cheeks were damp with tears.

"you promised!" matt sobbed pathetically. "you promise you wouldn't hate me! i can't live with the thought of you hating me!" tom shoved his hands into his pockets, not bothering to wipe his face.

"a promise is a promise is a promise, but i have to break this one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> w h o o p s


	14. loud hatred and suppressed love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom is angry, but he's not as angry as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm not dead :0000000
> 
> this is short & sweet & to the point so pls have this while i work on other things :"")

for the next couple of days, tom was a hot ball of anger and hatred. sure, he was always angry and hateful, but this was an entirely new level. the pot of anger and hatred had boiled over, spilling negative emotions everywhere. 

tom only went to work because he had to. he only went out when he needed to, preferring to stay home and stew in his rage. when he'd go out, he'd catch people staring at his fading hickeys and the very prominent puncture marks on his neck. he could almost feel them judging him. in response to their silent judgement, he'd shoot a murderous glare their way, and they'd usually hurriedly avert their gaze.

tom had also forgotten his goddamn phone at the church. he'd accidentally left it with matt when he stormed out of there in a fit of anger, and as far as he was concerned, he wasn't going back there. who really needed phones anyway? he could survive without it. hopefully. 

though, today, tom went down to the lobby to collect his mail from his box. inside was the usual junk mail and bills, but his phone was neatly placed on top of all the paper. tom looked around the lobby, terribly confused. the only other person down there along with him was that chipper woman who worked the front desk. she waved at him energetically, tom offering a halfhearted smile that was a basically a grimace.

tom examined his phone. there were hairline cracks snaking all over the screen like a spider's web. tom felt like it was an accurate depiction of his current mood, shoving it into his pocket as he went to gather the rest of his mail. 

he journeyed back up the elevator to the seventh floor, coming to a halt when he saw a very familiar figure standing at his door. tom felt the anger and hatred burble up again, and he tried to shove it down so he wouldn't make a scene in the middle of the hallway. 

matt then seemed to realized that tom was there, and he turned to face him. he was wearing different clothes than tom last saw him in, dark oversized ones that made him look smaller than he was in reality. 

"what are you doing here," tom nearly growled, making matt shrink into his gray sweater and look at the floor. matt rubbed at his button nose through the sweater sleeve, and tom felt an unwelcome pang of an emotion he knew all too well. 

"i was sort of hoping you wouldn't be home," matt mumbled quietly, pulling ringo out from under his sweater. the garment was so big that tom didn't even notice ringo's form. matt held ringo out to him, still looking at the carpet. 

"sorry i took your cat," he said in a voice that tom almost didn't hear. they were standing at least six feet apart, so that probably explained something. 

"sorry really doesn't cover it," tom replied softly, his upset feelings dissipating. it was true, sorry didn't cover it. matt couldn't simply apologize about stealing ringo away, about stealing tom's dad's life away, about stealing tom's heart away. there was no way that sorry could suffice at all.

neither of them made a move to cross the gap between them, ringo squirming in matt's grip before promptly jumping out of matt's hands and landing skillfully on the floor. matt's arms dropped uselessly to his sides. it looked like he didn't quite know what to do with himself now. 

they just stared at each other then, ruby eyes to pools of midnight sky. tom exhaled a breath, ringo crawling around his ankles. he really couldn't hate matt. it was easy hating him when he wasn't around, but seeing him made tom feel guilty about his hatred.

he didn't want this divide between them. whether he liked it or not, he enjoyed matt's company, his laugh, his smile, his gems for eyes. 

"i forgive you," tom finally admitted, giving in to his needy love-stricken thoughts. hatred was comfortable, but love was much more welcoming. matt straightened, looking genuinely surprised. 

"you... forgive me? seriously?" tom gave him a soft smile, going ahead and walking the rest of the distance to his front door. 

"don't question it too long. i might change my mind." he was only half kidding. if matt did anything else to stress the ropes of their relationship, tom might just completely snap, and forgiveness would not come very easy. 

tom felt matt looking at him as he unlocked his front door and opened it wide. 

"welcome back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretty sure there won't be any more angst? not sure though. i might decide to pull one of those Plot Twists and screw everything up lmao
> 
> i'm running out of space in my notebook so i'm going to wrap this work up soon, hopefully ;))


	15. love and hate feel technically the same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom faces the facts about his feelings.

now that matt was back in the house, there were rules. tom had made sure to establish these rules before all chaos and havoc broke out, otherwise they'd both be having a not-so-nice time. the first rule was no bringing up the past. matt seemed to like recalling and talking about painful shared memories, and tom disliked that so very much. he didn't necessarily want to remember how awful it felt when his kiss was rejected, or the pure hatred and resentment he'd felt when matt had confessed his little transgression to him. he preferred to stay in the present, thank you. 

that was the first and only rule. matt hadn't objected, and life returned to as normal as it could possibly be. adjusting back to regular life was more difficult than tom would care to admit. sometimes he'd get brief hot rushes of anger, angry at everyone in general, but mostly matt. other times, he'd be so dopey in love that it would be hard to form a coherent sentence. he didn't prefer any mood over the other, and he flip-flopped between the two rather often. 

there was only one thing that tom could think about without wanting to die or hide in his room for the rest of his sad life, and that thing was the kiss matt had given him before he vanished. god, every time he thought about it, his heart would start to hammer frantically in his chest and a warm flush would creep up his neck. any time he thought about kissing matt, really, he'd get like that. the thoughts did go a little farther, though tom wasn't about to admit that to anyone.

just the other night when he was eating dinner with matt, a stray thought of "wow, i wonder what matt looks like naked" crawled into his mind. tom had immediately choked on his spaghetti, his whole face turning an unflattering shade of pink. matt had looked confused as to what was happening, quickly asking if he was okay. he definitely was not okay.

this whole love thing was getting way too out of hand. yeah, tom had had crushes on people in the past, but none of them even compared to what he was experiencing at this point in his life. to top all that off, he'd fallen in love with a vampire. a male vampire at that. not only was he was lovesick loser, but a gay lovesick loser too. he wasn't all the way gay though? he still found girls pretty attractive and stuff. there was probably a term to peg what tom was feeling, but the word completely slipped his mind, matt's tingling laugh playing on loop in his head instead. 

sometimes one of matt's body parts, like his arm, for example, would brush up against tom's skin, and he'd shiver without thinking. he despised and craved matt's touch at the same time, and most times, he couldn't tell if he was really super in love with matt or just experiencing a weird form of hatred he'd never felt before. his whole mind and body were at war with each other, like it couldn't decide whether it wanted matt in or out of tom's life. 

the days passed and things started to get really bad. tom would wake up either at ungodly hours of the morning or ungodly hours of the afternoon, his everything a mess. the dreams he'd wake up from would still be playing in the back of his mind, the scenes and sounds he'd dreamt about making him bury his face in his hands with humiliation. every fucking time, the only other person in his dreams would be matt. every time. without fail. it was absolutely mortifying.

the worst part of all of this was that matt knew. he knew everything that was going on, but he usually never said anything about it aside from the occasional offhanded comment during breakfast. he knew about the dreams, he knew about the thoughts, he knew about the way tom would flush when their fingers brushed, he knew about the things tom would whisper under his breath when he thought that matt wasn't paying attention. he knew about it all, every last detail, and tom knew that he knew. 

yet neither of them said a word, going about life in complacent silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've got the next chapter typed up and ready and i want to post it so badly but i'm going to refrain :')) guess y'all have to wait until tmw lol
> 
> i have a feeling that these are getting shorter and shorter but i don't know what to do about that


	16. movies as a stupid excuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom and matt watch a horror movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's literally only one line of dialogue in this whole thing lmao

tom really hated how he found matt cute. he absolutely hated it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. matt was cute, whether he liked it or not, and, unfortunately, he was even cuter in the dark. it made no sense, but it was true. when matt was in the living room when it was all dark, only the tv on, he looked even more flawless than he already did. it was fucking unfair. 

movies were tom's common excuse to get close to matt. he knew it was lame, but matt's attention would be immediately snagged by whatever they were watching, and tom would spend more time watching matt's expression change than actually watching the movie itself. the tv would illuminate all the right spots on matt's face, and it was simply a work of art. tom's breath would catch a little every time, no lie. 

another great thing about watching movies with matt was the popcorn bowl. tom owned this big white bowl that he exclusively put popcorn in, nothing else, and it was large enough that he could probably fit at least three bags of popcorn in it. during the movie, matt's hand would drift to the bowl of popcorn, his eyes glued to the television, and tom would stick his hand in the popcorn at the exact same time as matt did. he did it so often that they didn't exchange mumbled apologies every time it happened and tom sometimes wondered if matt was aware that he only did this to touch matt's hand underneath the safely of popcorn. 

tonight, they were watching a horror movie. matt had complained about how he didn't want to watch a scary movie, and tom simply said "too bad" and started playing it. the last time they'd watched a movie, matt had picked a cheesy romcom with too much kissing. in reality, tom didn't mind in the slightest because matt's face had just lit up during that movie.

tom had picked a scary movie for two reasons: one, matt picked last time so it was his turn, and two, matt was ironically easily scared, and when he was scared, he'd cling to tom like he was the one being chased by a chainsaw-wielding slasher clown. he'd make these adorable terrified whimpers and hold onto tom's arm as if his life was dependent on it.

okay, fine. he'd really only picked a horror movie so matt would touch him. it was an evil strategy, but it worked rather well. 

matt's eyes were wide, the blanket on them pulled all the way up to his nose. matt had scooched as close as possible, occasionally seizing tom's wrist when the suspense was too much.

"tom, i don't like this movie," matt whined quietly as they watched the slasher clown slowly open a row of doors one by one in search of a single terrified girl. matt's hand found tom's wrist again, and tom hated how his heart fluttered in his ribcage. tom gnawed on his bottom lip for a long time, his gaze shifting from the tv, to matt's face, to matt's hand on his wrist. if he moved his hand just so, then they'd be sort of... holding hands.

tom felt himself flush, so thankful that it was dark. should he do it? he was pretty sure that matt could hear his heart pounding in his chest. he really didn't want this to end up like the kiss he'd attempted, but the promise of the kiss matt had given him made him think twice.

matt's grip was a tad tighter than it had been, matt's eyes the size of saucers with his perfect little mouth opened slightly. fuck, fuck, fuck! he had to do this before he didn't get another chance, but he was terrified, and not because of the movie. his heart was beating so fast that he was probably coming close to death or something. 

tom screwed his eyes shut, then, as quickly as he possibly could, slipped his hand up into matt's and laced their fingers together. fuck yeah!! fuck!! yeah!!

he held his breath, keeping his gaze trained on the tv and the bloody scene playing out on it as matt slowly turned to look at tom and their now intertwined fingers. tom's everything was flushed, his neck, his ears, his face. there was no way to hide how gay he was at this point. matt looked at him for a long time, then finally looked away, their hands still together. 

tom released the breath he'd been holding, so flustered he could die right then and there. he felt like he was in fucking elementary school, stressing over a little thing like holding hands. 

matt flinched and squeezed his hand, the slasher clown slashing people like he was supposed to. oh yeah. tom had almost forgotten that a movie was playing. his attention had been dwelling on how right matt's hand felt in his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gah !!! our eyeless boi is gay!! gay i tell you!!
> 
> next chapter is so long abfjs but it's great <33 excited to post that one uwu


	17. attractions revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom gets flustered by some things that matt says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not proofread i'm sorry anbdnsmssns i'm in a rush to post this

matt didn't say a word about the holding hands incident. he hadn't let go the entire rest of the movie, only sliding his hand out of tom's grip once the movie was completely over. that was a little comforting, but tom wasn't sure if matt had let him hold his hand out of pity or what. it was probably obvious at this point that tom had fallen, and he'd fallen hard. 

while loading his bedsheets into the washer for the third time that week, tom had a thought. maybe he could... confess his attraction? more like infatuation. matt was all that tom ever thought about. tom started the washing machine, then leaned against it. he could already feel himself begin to blush. there was no way that he could tell matt that he was so terribly in love with him, that he would do anything for him, that all he ever thought about was him. 

tom made a frustrated noise, covering his face with his hands. jesus christ, had he really fallen in love with the vampire that helped kill his dad?

yes. yes, he had.

matt walked into the laundry room. tom couldn't help but notice how matt's light purple sweater was low cut in the back, exposing pale, freckled shoulder blades and those adorable bat wing tattoos. matt patted tom's chest a few times as he passed, moving to the dryer.

"morning, tommy boy," he said, opening the dryer door and taking an armful of his clothes out. tom's heart melted. "tommy boy" was the cutest thing anyone had ever called him. 

"good morning," tom offered in return. matt smiled faintly, dumping his clothes on top of the dryer and started to rummage through the pile. while matt was distracted, tom's eyes wandered. matt's sweater draped over his body like a sheet, blurring the curved lines of his waist and hips. tom sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing how shapely matt's lower half really was. the ginger was wearing these little black shorts that were nearly swallowed up by how long his sweater was. patterned knee high socks topped it all off. it seemed that matt had just woken up from one of his beauty naps.

"what are you looking for?" tom asked, managing to tear his eyes away from matt's figure. matt shrugged.

"underwear," he replied dismissively. tom tried extremely hard to stop the flush from coming up his neck. it came anyway, tom embarrassed by how easily matt was able to fluster him. he wasn't even supposed to get flustered at the word "underwear", but just thinking about matt in his underthings screwed him up inside. 

unfortunately, matt caught sight of tom's blushy face, and, after a second of brief puzzlement, started to laugh. tom tried praying the blush away. it didn't work. 

"what, i'm not allowed to say the word 'underwear' around you?" matt said, smirking. he'd stopped searching around in his pile of clothes, turning to face tom. his smirk transformed into a mischievous grin that spread slowly across his face. 

"how about..." matt's perfect crimson eyes lit up evilly. "how about the word 'panties'?" what the fuck was matt trying to do? turn tom into a tomato? more blood rushed up tom's neck and into his cheeks. matt snorted with laughter, obviously enjoying taking advantage of tom and his overly-flusteredness.

"lacy panties," matt continued, carefully enunciating each syllable as if he were speaking to a five year old. tom's eyebrows knit together. 

"matt, quit it," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. matt stepped in front of him, planting his hands on those glorious hips. 

"hmm? what was that? you want me to say it again?" actually, yes. tom would listen to matt say anything, anything at all as long as the words came out of matt's beautiful, soft, incredibly kissable lips. tom said nothing, pressing his mouth into a line. he could tell that matt was right on the verge of saying "lacy panties" again, but tom was suddenly overwhelmed by how fast his heart was beating and how close together they were starting to get.

"how come you let me hold your hand?" tom randomly blurted, his face a red mess. matt took a half step back, a surprised expression settling onto his face.

"during the horror movie," tom rushed to add. "i grabbed your hand and you let me hold it." matt's gaze shifted off to the side, and he shrugged a little. 

"i don't know," he finally said after a pause. his nimble fingers began to play with the fuzzy fabric on his sweater. "you grabbed my hand and i didn't feel like letting go." tom was almost shocked by this answer. he wasn't sure what he had been expecting as a response, but that definitely wasn't it. 

there was an awkward silence between them, matt's gaze coming to rest on tom's face again. they stared at each other, and tom's heart rate got faster and his whole body heated up and his mind clouded with thoughts and his hand gripped at this front of his shirt and he loved him, he loved him, he loved him--

"i love you!" the words burst out of him before he could stop them, and now that they were out, he couldn't put a plug on them. "i've fallen so badly in love with you and i'm still falling. you're the most amazing person i've ever met, you're a ray of pure sunshine, and you're perfect and i'd do absolutely anything for you. anything to see you smile, to hear you laugh, to watch your eyes light up like fireworks.

"you make me rethink everything i know, everything i feel, everything i want. i can't stop thinking about you. i can't stop dreaming about you. my heartbeat goes insane when i'm around you, and all i want to do is hold you, or kiss you, or run my fingers through your hair or down your beautiful body." matt looked so taken aback, and tom was terrified that he'd confessed too much. he could basically taste the unsaid rejection, and he buried his face in his hands with a humiliated groan.

"god, i'm so stupid. i'm so sorry. i'm just so gay for you and i want you to go out with me or something. i don't fucking know." matt was quiet, biting his bottom lip. tom's stomach dropped to the floor. 

"fuck, sorry," he mumbled, making a move to leave the laundry room. "sorry, i'm stupid. this is stupid. i should go." there was a hole where his heart should've been, and he felt empty, drained. he walked halfway through the laundry room's doorway only to feel matt's hand shoot out and grab his arm. 

"n...no. wait," matt said. tom turned to look at him, and the ginger was... crying?

"please don't go." matt quickly wiped the tears from his face. "no one's ever said anything like that to me before in my whole life and i... didn't know how to react." he offered tom a soft smile. 

"i know. i know, tom. i know that you love me. i can feel it every time you look at me. every time you say my name, i feel a thousand emotions behind it. you love me, and it hurts that you love me, even after all the crap i've done to you." tom watched the ginger inhale a shaky breath, then stare at him straight in the face. 

"you used to be so cold, but now... you've changed. you're more open and friendly and i can't lie. i'm attracted to that. i'm attracted to you. more than i should be. being around you makes me feel good. i want to be around you. i don't want to lose you." tom couldn't tell whether matt was going to give him positive news or what. the ginger paused, looking at the floor for a moment before looking back at tom. the air was heavy. 

"what i'm trying to say is... i'll... yes." tom blinked at him, confused. matt's freckled cheeks tinted a little, and so did his cute pointy ears. 

"yes what?"

"yes, i'll go out with you," matt clarified hurriedly. "i'll be your boyfriend. no one's ever told me that they loved me, and truly meant it, and i think that i just might be okay with loving you back." there was a pause, then tom smiled, smiled so wide. was this reality? or was this a twisted dream? matt tentatively held up a finger, stopping tom before he did anything. 

"please do take things slow with me, though," he said softly, his eyes shy. "i'm very new to love and romance... but i think i'll be okay." matt carefully reached out and slipped his hand into tom's, holding hands just like they had during that scary movie. 

"i think i'll be okay if i'm with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also hi check out @/ask.the.eddsworld.dorks on instagram cuz i'm part of that ask blog with my cool new friend crick so yeah bye


	18. taking it slow and even slower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt is 2300 years old but he’s never played a card game.

matt hadn’t been kidding when he’d said to take things slow. for the first two weeks of them officially dating, physical affection only went as far as holding hands and cuddling. tom was okay with both of those, but he wanted to feel matt’s lips on his, he wanted to touch matt’s arms and his chest and his waist and his hips—

but he didn’t. tom refrained from his cravings, respecting his new boyfriend’s wishes. when matt was ready, he’d show it. hopefully. tom would settle for hand holding and cuddling if that’s what made matt happy, because if matt was happy, tom was happy.

another thing that sort of bummed tom out was how matt never said “i love you”. maybe matt was still working out his feelings or something? it kinda hurt when tom would tell matt that he loved him to the moon and back, and matt would respond simply with “i know” and a soft smile. still, they’d only been dating for two weeks so things would probably change?

one day, tom taught matt how to play several different card games, starting with go fish. apparently the vampire had never seen a deck of cards in his whole life, so tom whipped out his checkered card deck and settled down on the couch to play some good old card games. 

after several games of go fish, old maid, and poker, tom leaned back on the couch and stretched. matt had won nearly all the games they’d played. 

“how do you keep winning?” tom complained, matt flashing him a cute smile that was full of teeth. the ginger shrugged, organizing all fifty two cards into a neat pile in an attempt to shuffle them. 

“i dunno!” tom scowled at matt, but he was only joking. ringo came over and jumped onto the couch, snuggling onto tom’s lap. tom watched matt split the cards into two even sets, them bend each set with both hands and try to converge them. the cards flew everywhere. 

tom tried to hold in his laugh, but it slipped out, matt’s pouty face and the stray four of spades stuck in his orange hair too much for tom to bear. matt stuck out his tongue, kicking at tom’s crossed legs with his socked feet. 

“it’s not funny!” he whined, kicking tom faster when he started to laugh harder. ringo jumped back out of tom’s lap, startled by the thumping that was matt’s kicking. 

“yes, it is!” tom put his hands up in surrender, matt beginning to giggle himself. soon enough, they were both laughing at the mess of cards all around them. the cards were scattered all over and around the couch, tom leaning over to pluck the four of spades from matt’s hair. matt was still laughing, and he dodged tom’s hand quickly, causing tom to miscalculate the distance between them and fall head first onto matt. they froze as if someone had just hit pause.

tom slowly peeled himself from matt’s abdomen, his face heating up. he looked up at matt, whose cheeks were also pink with a blush. tom had more or less fallen into matt’s lap, the closeness of their faces further quickening the beat of his heart. 

tom managed to prop himself up on his elbows, which were on either side of matt’s thighs. it was an awkward position, no doubt. they stared at each other in a moment of rapt silence, tom’s mouth forming a little o. matt was even more stunning up close with those perfectly arranged smatters of freckles across his cheeks and nose and his long, light colored eyelashes that framed those absolutely astounding pair of sparkling red eyes.

oh god. tom wanted to kiss him. he had to kiss him, he needed to.

“you take my breath away,” tom whispered, his ears burning. matt bit his plush bottom lip, his gaze shooting from tom’s eyes to his mouth. tom could tell that he was trying to decide whether he wanted this or not. 

there was a pause, and then matt leaned down just a hair, closing the gap between them. matt kissed him, and tom kissed him back and it felt right and it felt fucking great. their lips moved like they were meant for each other, and in that moment, tom knew that there was nothing else he needed in his whole life except matt and his kisses. matt was his alcohol and tom was going to get drunk off him every second of his existence.

tom managed to sit up without breaking the kiss, matt’s hands sliding up tom’s chest. tom’s fingers found matt’s soft hair. they broke apart for a millisecond for air, then came back together again. tom could feel matt’s fangs threatening to nip at his lip, and it sent him reeling. he opened his mouth a little without thinking, and suddenly they were waging a really hot tongue war against each other. 

matt shivered when tom’s hand drifted down his side, sending shoots of electricity up tom’s spine. tom’s tongue ran across matt’s teeth, a move that he obviously didn’t think through because matt’s razor sharp incisor sliced tom’s tongue on the tip. 

tom forced himself to tear away from matt, holding his hand under his bleeding tongue to try to keep blood from getting on the couch. 

“what the fuck,” tom swore. it sounded more like “wuh tha thuck” with his tongue hanging out, but matt got the point, his eyes widening as he realized what he’d accidentally done. his hands flew to his mouth. 

“oh!! um... i’m sorry, ahh! let me... see if i can help??” tom froze in place, matt learning over and awkwardly sucking the blood from the tip of his tongue. he almost cracked up by how weird this was, but he figured that if he wanted to keep his tongue connected to his mouth, he probably shouldn’t. 

a few moments later, matt pulled away, a long trail of spit following him. he quickly wiped his mouth, a cute blush settling onto his face. tom discovered that his tongue was no longer bleeding, and he felt the urge to make a remark about matt having a tongue kink, but he thought better of it.

it was quiet between them. matt shifted his gaze away from tom, his cheeks flushing even redder. 

“you’re a good kisser,” he mumbled, his shoulders drawn up to his ears. tom straightened, feeling himself get all blushy. the words made matt so shy, and it was the most adorable thing tom had ever witnessed in his entire life. 

“th...thanks. i’ve had a lot of practice.” matt looked at him then, his eyebrows raising. he tucked some hair behind his ear, worrying his lip. 

“really?” he said after a beat. “...you’re the only person i’ve ever kissed. i had my first and second kisses with you.” tom’s eyes widened, and he smiled a little as he reached out and touched matt’s hand lightly 

“you’ve never kissed anyone but me? how old are you?” matt shrugged, looking like he honestly didn’t know. 

“um... somewhere around two thousand three hundred years old? i might have miscalculated.” tom merely blinked at his boyfriend, who was staring at him innocently. he’d forgotten that vampires lived long ass lives. matt didn’t look a day over twenty four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi !!! i’m not dead oof !!! i’ve just been a teensy bit busy <3 hope you liked this chapter ;)))) i liked writing it hehehhehehe
> 
> chapter 19 is proving to be a pain to write ?????? it’s so long and i’m not even done,,, i have like 12 pages left in my notebook so i better wrap it up if i’m gonna have room for the 20th chapter lol


	19. direct rays of sunlit affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> matt convinces tom to let them go outside.

“let’s go out,” matt said one morning out of the blue. they were cuddled up together on tom’s bed, as matt had began “forcing himself into unconsciousness” more often so they could sleep together. it was a nice gesture, and tom really liked waking up to matt’s sleepy face in the mornings.

“what do you mean, go out?” tom asked, turning over to face matt. matt smiled softly, beginning to run his fingers through tom’s messy hair. 

“let’s go outside. all we ever do it stay here, and i heard there’s going to be a festival or something a little ways downtown.” tom chuckled, rubbing his nose against matt’s. 

“that’s cute, but you know you can’t go outside,” tom remarked. matt rolled his eyes, setting his face into a pout. it was a really adorable pout, one that puffed matt’s lips out. tom wanted to kiss him. he probably tasted like strawberries. 

“nuh-uh!” matt protested, sticking out his tongue with defiance. “i bought myself a huge sun hat online and i still have at least seven bottles of sunscreen left. i’ll be fine.” tom let out an unsure noise, allowing his hand to settle itself in the curve of matt’s waist. 

“pleeeease?” matt whined. “it’s not even that hot out today. i promise i’ll behave. i won’t leave your sight.”

“i don’t know about that,” tom said in response, watching matt’s face go into full sulk mode. matt’s hand left tom’s hair and he folded his arms over his chest like a stubborn teenager. 

“c’mon, please?” tom shook his head slightly. 

“i don’t wanna take any chances. i don’t really know what direct sun does to you and i don’t think that i want to find—“ matt closed the space between them before tom could finish his sentence, kissing him like he wasn’t allowed to do or say anything until this kiss was over. tom’s assumption had been correct: matt actually did taste faintly of strawberries. 

when tom pulled away to breathe, matt let out this fucking cute ass shaky breath as he began to kiss down tom’s jawline. 

“let’s go out,” he murmured in between kisses, tom unconsciously tilting his head so matt would kiss him more. 

“no,” tom murmured back. “it’s nice here. we can stay here, just the two of us.” matt’s hands found their way onto tom’s arms, his lips wandering down to tom’s neck. his mouth just barely grazed the skin of tom’s neck for a moment, and then matt started to plant little soft kisses all over. tom felt good. matt was giving him affection, and it felt so good.

tom gave a noise similar to a breathy groan when matt’s tongue darted out to lick one specific area. he felt matt suck on the wet spot, and his grip on the space of the ginger’s waist tightened a little.

“can i bite you?” matt asked against his neck. tom barely nodded. 

“yeah.” at the word, matt’s teeth ghosted his skin before sinking into him as softly as possible. the fact that matt was being gentle made tom want to give the whole world to him. man, he was so in love. it was an amazing feeling. 

speaking of feelings, matt was giving him plenty by drinking his blood. tom didn’t think that he minded anymore. maybe he was starting to become one of those kinky bastards that liked when people bit them. maybe that’s what happens when your boyfriend is a vampire.

“okay, we can go out,” tom finally relented. matt didn’t immediately pull away, being a teensy bit preoccupied, but when he did, his eyes lit up like a thousand lightbulbs. that very expression was what tom lived for. that was exactly why he woke up in the morning, without a doubt. 

matt quickly licked the remaining blood from tom’s open wounds, then promptly undid his marks so the punctures wouldn’t scar. afterwards, matt looked up at him, those ruby eyes sparkling. 

“really?” tom chuckled, giving matt’s forehead a kiss. 

“yeah. you better hurry up and get ready before i change my mind.” matt beamed, then wriggled out of tom’s grasp to bounce out of the room. 

“i’ll be ready in about an hour!” tom heard matt call from down the hall. tom mumbled an “okay” that matt probably didn’t hear, his fingers drifting to the smooth spot where matt had bit him. he should probably get ready to leave too, but he managed to doze off regardless. 

tom woke up to matt’s loud singing from the living room. he didn’t know how long he’d slept, and he discovered that ringo had curled up next to his chest. the cat started to purr when tom pet her for a couple seconds, hearing matt belt out the lyrics to “i will always love you”. he wasn’t really sure how or why matt was singing whitney houston at this hour of the day. 

tom more or less rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he wandered into the open living room. it seemed that matt had somehow got into tom’s phone and was playing some youtube playlist. it was like he knew all the words to every song that would play. 

tom watched matt dance around the living room as he sang along to some panic! at the disco song that tom couldn’t place. matt nearly tripped over the coffee table when he saw tom there watching him, and he quickly turned off the music. 

“you’re up,” matt singsonged, twirling his way to tom. tom almost laughed, matt giving him a lightning quick kiss on the cheek. the ginger frowned at tom’s lack of proper going-out clothes, smoothing out his wrinkly pajama shirt. matt looked all ready to go, in a pale pink t-shirt with some sort of sarcastic text on it and what appeared to be tom’s skinny jeans. 

so they were getting to the point where they were wearing each other’s clothes, then. tom was completely okay with this. seeing matt in his frayed, torn up jeans made him all fuzzy inside. 

“it’s almost noon,” matt complained. “are we going to leave or what? you don’t exactly look entirely presentable.” tom would’ve rolled his eyes. 

“i would go and put on other clothes, but i think you’re wearing my jeans.” to his surprise, matt actually blushed, swaying shyly. 

“they’re comfy. and they smell like you,” matt offered as an explanation. tom’s heart almost burst out of his chest. he was so badly in love with his vampire that it was practically hard to fucking breathe. 

matt kept pressing for tom to put on proper clothes, and after persuading matt into kissing him until his fingers nearly started slipping up that pink t-shirt of his, tom went off to get dressed. he threw on the first things he saw: a raggedy black-blue flannel and an equally torn up pair of jeans. it was borderline autumn, so tom hoped that it wasn’t going to be too hot out. 

right before they walked out the door, tom apprehensively watched matt slather sunscreen all over his exposed skin. he wasn’t really sure if this was safe, and he did not want matt to melt into a puddle of goop as soon as they stepped outside. nevertheless, matt seemed ecstatic about finally getting to leave the apartment, carefully nestling a big ass black sun hat on his head. 

literally. the hat probably could block out the sun from the fucking sky. where the hell matt had managed to get this hat, tom had no idea. he managed to pull the huge thing off though, as he was able to do most things. 

“ready to go, handsome?” tom asked with a smirk, holding out his arm. matt smiled warmly at him as he took his arm. 

“definitely.” tom opened the front door, leading matt out into the hall. he locked the door behind them, pocketing his keys, and they ventured down the carpeted hall to the elevators. 

matt didn’t shrivel up the moment they walked out of the apartment complex, and tom felt himself release a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. matt simply squinted at how bright it was out and pulled tom to the car. once safely inside and buckled up, matt assumed control and directed tom in the exact direction he was supposed to go, strangely akin to a gps. after about ten minutes of driving and listening to matt gush about how excited he was, tom pulled into a parking space near the center of the bustling town square.

there were little booths set up all around the water fountain and, additionally, a lot of people wandering about. tom watched matt “ooh” and “aah” over how busy it was out of the corner of his eye. he was trying not to visibly show how his boyfriend had stolen his heart and soul by how goddamn cute he was. 

“let’s go over there!” matt exclaimed excitedly, quickly grabbing tom’s hand and pulling him across the square to a booth selling soap. tom let matt drag him all the way there. he had a feeling that he’d be leaving this festival with an empty wallet and an armful of bags. 

matt pulled tom this way and that way for the next two hours, cooing over people’s babies and begging him to buy just one more thing. they had to stop walking around several times so matt could reapply sunscreen in some sort of dark, shady corner. tom could tell that all of this direct sunlight was starting to tire matt out, but when he asked him if he wanted to get going, he replied with a defiant “no!”.

around 3:40, matt had wandered over to a food truck that was parked on the cobblestone pavement of the square and technically demanded tom to buy him a taco. 

“okay, but you have to pay,” tom resolved, setting the several shopping bags he’d been carrying onto a nearby picnic table. matt nodded, then frowned as he realized that he wasn’t the one with the job or the money. he folded his arms across his chest. 

“what? but you have the money, not me.” tom smiled smugly, leaning on the picnic table and beckoning matt closer. matt shuffled over, his floppy hat bouncing as he walked. tom tapped matt’s lips softly, then tapped his own.

“give me a kiss and i’ll buy you a taco.” matt’s gaze shot to the people around them. 

“but... all of these people will see,” he said, biting his lip. “can’t we just do this later?” tom shook his head, leaning down just a little. he could felt matt’s breath on his cheeks. 

“if you pay me in kisses, i promise i’ll buy you as many tacos as you want.” matt continued to worry his lip. there was a very long pause. there was no way matt could pass this up. he was hungry, and he’d do almost anything when he was hungry. the pause continued, matt’s eyes flicking between tom’s lips and eyes. quickly, he leaned in, planting a soft kiss on tom’s mouth.

suddenly, there was no one else around. it was just him and matt, the rest of the world falling away. matt’s ever-present strawberry flavored chapstick mixed the kiss with sweetness. tom found himself cupping matt’s cheeks, the black sun hat shielding them both at this point. matt made this tiny hum into the kiss, and it took all tom had to not start feeling him up right here in the middle of the town square. 

much to tom’s surprise, when he pulled away so he could go buy matt that taco, matt mumbled a quiet “no, wait”, his eyelashes fluttering over his eyes. their noses were at least a couple centimeters apart. just as matt leaned up to give tom another kiss, somebody nearby cleared their throat rather loudly. tom and matt quickly stepped away from each other, their faces reddening.

the cockblock happened to be an older looking woman with several small, rambunctious children. she glared at them from under her fake designer sunglasses, then made this “shoo” gesture as if she had the right to confiscate the picnic table from them. tom started to get more than a little pissed off, but matt gently slipped his hand into tom’s.

“let’s go get the tacos, m’kay?” matt murmured, his eyes asking for tom to please not make a scene. tom sighed irritably, gathering up the shopping bags and not forgetting to shoot a nasty glare in the woman’s direction. 

the sun began to dip low in the sky. the tacos were tasty, though tom had to triple check that there was no garlic in it whatsoever before letting matt take a bite. tom’s phone read 5:22 when they finally started to make their way back to the car. on their walk back, matt suddenly pulled tom to the side to a lone booth set up amongst some trees. there was a young woman sitting at this booth, carefully rearranging pieces of jewelry in their cushiony boxes. 

“hello,” matt said, ogling all of the shiny jewelry pieces. the woman looked up from her organization attempt at them, and she smiled warmly.

“hello,” she greeted. “if you see something you like, feel free to try it on.” tom watched matt visibly covet everything he laid his eyes on, and he adjusted his grip on the shopping bags. matt’s fingers just barely ghosted some rings, his hand shooting to his side when he touched a specific one. he let out a soft hiss of pain, looking at his fingers. the tips of his middle and forefinger were fire truck red, the skin almost sizzling. 

tom set the bags on the ground in a rush, softly asking if matt was okay. matt shook his head yes, sticking his fingers in his mouth without hesitation. 

“what do you have ring-wise that’s not silver?” tom asked the woman. she tapped her chin in thought, then pulled a display box of rings out from under the table. all of these were either off-white or gold. 

“i have these. the white ones are made of rhodium, a cheaper alternative to silver, and the others are gold.” tom examined the shiny rings for a second, then turned to matt, who still had his fingers in his mouth. 

“pick one you like,” tom murmured. “i’ll buy it for you.” matt lit up, taking his fingertips out of his mouth and beaming.

“okay!” matt didn’t even look at the rings for more than ten seconds, pointing at a whitish one with an intricate criss-cross design. “i like this one a lot.” tom nodded, gingerly taking the ring out of the box and setting it on the table.

“do you have one similar to this?” it was the woman’s turn to nod, and she pointed to an exact copy of the ring on the opposite side of the box before plucking it out and placing it next to the other identical ring. tom felt himself smile. 

“perfect,” he said, taking his wallet out of his back pocket and seeing how much cash he had left. there were a couple large quantity bills, but otherwise his wallet was bare. matt had already begged him to buy so many other things, but tom really couldn’t help but spoil him. he loved his boyfriend too much to not spoil him just a little. 

he paid the woman, who put the rings in a little box and dropped the box into a plastic bag. she presented the bag to him, and tom took it and gave her a grateful smile.

they continued on their way back to the car. once settled inside, tom pulled the rings out of the box and turned to matt. matt’s eyes sparkled as he offered his pale, freckled left hand to him. tom slipped the ring onto matt’s fourth finger, silence filling the car. 

“i love you,” matt said suddenly as tom went to put his own ring on his own finger. tom’s head shot up. did he just hear correctly? did matt just say what he thought he said?

“what?” tom enunciated slowly, blinking. matt took off his sun hat and ran his hand through his bright orange hair to fluff it up. they locked eyes, silence invading the car again. 

“i’m pretty sure that i’m in love with you, tom,” matt admitted, twisting the ring around on his finger. “i feel different when i’m around you lately. a good kind of different. the best kind of different.” tom gave a surprised breath, not believing what he was hearing. matt just nodded a little, a faint smile on his lips. 

“i... i love you too,” tom breathed. “i love you so much.” matt’s eyebrow quirked, his fingers playing with his bottom lip.

“yeah?” he said, his voice like honey. “can you prove it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and then they fucked
> 
> lmao nah jk jk
> 
> ONE CHAPTER AWAY FROM THE END HOW WICKED IS THAT IM SO EXCITED TO POST THE 20TH CHAPTER FBSJDB
> 
> also if someone wants to gift me a work of matt getting fucking destroyed up the ass by absolutely anyone pls do thanks ilysm


	20. flaws, perfections, and vampires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tom makes two big decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is rather suggestive,, but u guys are big kids,,, you can handle it

matt’s fingers had become imperfect. after he’d touched that silver ring at the festival, the tips of his middle and forefinger on his right hand had scarred. when they’d gotten home from the festival, matt had hesitantly revealed split open fingertips that sizzled softly like bacon cooking on a stove. the surrounding skin was all flushed red, and it really just looked like matt was having a bad time. 

matt was very embarrassed by the scars, shrinking into himself when he’d say that it’d take a couple months for them to fade away. tom assured him that he was perfect, no amount of physical imperfections could ever stop tom from loving him. 

and then there were the rings. tom had absolutely no clue what they were supposed to signify. they weren’t engaged, that was for sure, tom not sure if he was even ready for that type of responsibility. by extension, they sure as hell weren’t married. nevertheless, tom never took his ring off, and he didn’t think that he’d ever seen matt without his. the rings meant something special to them both, something that couldn’t really be put into words.

matt never slept in the guest room anymore. he never even walked into the guest room anymore, having moved all of his stuff into tom’s bedroom. it was their bedroom now, not just tom’s bedroom. matt didn’t “force himself into unconsciousness” every night, but he would always curl up to tom’s figure when tom was ready to go to bed. sometimes he’d sing to him, lulling tom to sleep with soft alternative indie pop songs. 

one night, matt crawled into bed and flopped over to face the ceiling instead of doing his cuddling thing. tom turned his head to look at matt in the dark. it was quiet, save for matt’s steady breathing. 

“you’re going to get old and die,” matt stated after a long beat of silence. tom snorted with laughter.

“yeah, no shit, sherlock. everyone will.” tom thought he saw matt shake his head. matt then scooted closer to tom in the dark, their hands touching. tom could feel the raised scars on matt’s fingers.

“i think i want to spend the rest of my life with you,” matt said next. tom’s heart melted into a mess of love and adoration and respect for this wonderful man lying next to him. at this point, tom was ready to die for him. they’d only been dating for maybe two or three months, but tom was so ready to give up everything for his boyfriend. give up anything and everything. 

“me too,” tom returned. “i want to spend forever with you.” matt’s lips brushed the shell of his ear before pressing a small kiss on his temple. 

“i know a way where we can spend forever together,” matt murmured, his finger tracing never-ending circles in tom’s palm. 

“mm? and what’s that?”

“i could turn you into a vampire,” matt concluded softly, making tom abruptly sit up. tom could trace matt’s features in the dim ten o’clock light. he could feel matt’s imploring gaze.

“no way,” tom said with finality. this kind of felt like some sort of cruel joke. he smoothed out the sheets on his lap for a lack of a better thing to do. the air was heavy. 

“tom, you don’t understand. you’re going to age, and then you’re going to die, and i’ll just be there, still alive and watching you die. that’s painful. i don’t want to have to go through that. i love you and i wanna stay with you forever, but i’m really not getting any older. i’m basically already as old as time itself.” tom let out a huff, running a hand down his face.

“let’s not talk about this right now,” he said on an exhale. “it’s too late for this.” matt was quiet for a stretch of moments, then he mumbled a soft “alright”. tom settled back down in bed, trying to push the turning subject out of his mind. after a moment, matt snuggled up real close to him, setting his head on tom’s chest. 

“i love you,” tom whispered, putting his hand on matt’s shoulder. matt hummed. 

“i love you too, babe.” tom’s heart skipped a beat. matt had never called him babe before. he liked the sound of it, the way matt pronounced each letter. 

“good night, matt.”

“good night.”

matt just wouldn’t drop the whole topic of turning. he’d find some way to slip a subtle implication into every single damn conversation they had. tom would sometimes get fed up by that, and they would sort of start having a heated discussions that resembled actual arguments. it was kind of scary, arguing with matt. it was one thing to fight with a human, and it was another to fight with a vampire. 

matt’s emotions were completely all over the place, and tom really could never tell if the ginger was going to blow up, start to cry, or simply brush it off when they fought about turning. tom had sort of noticed that matt tended to favor crying, either bursting into tears or softly sniffling. regardless, tom really did not like seeing matt cry. it was very painful to witness, and tom was starting to think that matt would start crying intentionally so they would stop arguing. 

tom didn’t know how he felt about turning. yes, he loved matt in a completely unfathomable way, and, yes, he’d do absolutely anything to make him happy, but turning? it left a sour taste in his mouth. did he want to be a vampire. no. did he want to make matt happy? yes. did he want to spend all the rest of his years with him? yes. but would he turn so matt would be happy, so they could spend all their years together? tom didn’t know the answer to that. the question always weighed in the back of his mind, and people at work would catch him spacing out about it way too frequently. 

they were watching another movie. this one was a drama, and it was actually very interesting, but matt would not stop fidgeting. he’d switch positions every two minutes, making the blanket over them move along with him. when matt moved for probably the thirty seventh time, tom cast an annoyed glance at him. 

“sorry,” matt mumbled, scooting closer to him. “i just keep thinking about stuff, and it’s making me fidgety.” tom put his arm around matt when matt’s head found his shoulder. 

“what kind of stuff?” matt shrugged, looking up at him. tom was so confident that he was going to say the word turning, and he could already feel himself get a little miffed. 

“sex,” was what matt said instead. a flush promptly swarmed into tom’s face, and he was so grateful for the dark all of a sudden. there was a pause. 

“wh... what about it?” tom finally asked. matt shrugged again, and tom was very aware of matt’s hand on his thigh. 

“i don’t know. i just keep thinking about it.” matt paused, licking his lips. “what it would feel like.” jesus christ, were they really having this conversation? were these words actually coming out of matt’s mouth?

“really,” tom said slowly, becoming even more aware of matt’s hand creeping up his thigh. the movie was still playing, but neither of them were paying attention anymore. matt leaned up a little, their noses just barely touching. 

“yeah. i keep wondering what it would feel like with you.” goddamnit. his heart was beating way too fast for it to be healthy. were they gonna fuck? on this couch? with the drama still playing in the background? in his head, tom had a very vivid moment of matt making all sorts of sounds. he couldn’t take this. it was all too much. 

tom turned his head before matt had the chance to kiss him, and he heard matt let out a quiet breath of... disappointment? matt’s hand moved away from tom’s thigh, and he saw the ginger sit back out of the corner of his eye. 

“sorry,” tom mumbled pathetically. “i just don’t... know if i’m ready for that.” what the fuck was he saying?? he’d never been more ready for anything in his entire fucking life. matt simply looked at him, nodding slowly. 

“oh,” was all he said. “okay.” tom went to apologize again and maybe provide a stupid explanation, but matt stopped him by shaking his head. 

“no, it’s fine,” he assured, though he didn’t sound like he meant it in the slightest. “it’s fine. i get it.” tom figured that it would prove to be futile if he tried to say anything else about it, so he reluctantly dropped the subject. they watched the rest of the movie in an awkward silence. as soon as the ending credits started to roll, matt got up and left the room. tom could tell that he was upset by the way he walked. 

when tom climbed into bed that night, matt was already laying there, facing the right side of the bed instead of the left, where tom always was. he basically radiated “i’m pissed off at you, don’t talk to me”. it was quiet for a really long time, and tom was on the verge of falling asleep when matt spoke. 

“is it me?” he asked, turning over to face tom. matt’s hand carefully touched tom’s arm, and tom shifted to see matt looking more than a little dismal. 

“no... no, of course not,” tom rushed to say, wanting to reach out and grab matt’s hand. matt looked off to the side, practically gnawing on his bottom lip. tom went to grab matt’s hand, then thought better of it, reaching over and brushing some stray hairs out of matt’s face. matt looked back at him then, letting tom cup his cheek. it was quiet between them, dead silent, and tom leaned over, daring to brush his lips against matt’s. 

matt kissed him back softly, slowly, their eyes fluttering closed. the sheets rustled as matt moved as close to tom as he could, one hand on the back of tom’s shirt. tom kissed him breathless, murmuring gentle “i love you”s as he kissed down matt’s surprisingly cold neck. matt’s inhales trembled, the hand on tom’s back starting to grip his shirt. their ankles crossed under the bedsheets. matt let out a shaky breath of tom’s name, and tom’s heartbeat skyrocketed. matt could probably feel it against his chest. tom could for sure feel matt’s rapid heartbeats through his shirt. 

tom kissed matt’s perfect jaw, his perfect ears, his perfect collarbone. he wanted to kiss matt’s perfect everything. that was most likely something he’d wanted to do since day one. this perfect man had walked into his shitty apartment and his shitty life, and his complete flawlessness and perfection made tom want to love and adore him forever. 

he guessed that was what he was doing now. loving and adoring him, but with his lips on matt’s skin and his hands pulling up matt’s shirt and his mouth mumbling matt’s name. yes, this had to be loving and adoring, just with actions, not words.

tom’s fingertips traced matt’s ribcage and his stomach and his back, all places he knew were there, but had never seen, had never felt. the bed creaked in its frame when they moved, and then matt was shirtless and they were kissing and the room was a thousand degrees. 

tom woke up. he shot into a seated position, the blood rushing from his head and making him dizzy. he blinked frantically, examining all the extra clothes on the floor near the bed. cool air hit his chest, and, okay, he was naked. so was the orange haired male next to him, but he was sound asleep, pale, freckled shoulders peeking out from under the sheets. 

in a rush, tom remembered last night, or this morning, rather. shit had escalated. matt had had no idea how things worked, and he’d placed his trust in tom, and gently gave him that pure thing that was his virginity. 

so that sure was something. but there was something else that had happened. something that tom couldn’t recall, but that something had been a huge decision that probably had affected his life in some way. his fingers strayed to his neck. matt had bitten him. that was no surprise, but this was different. it felt different. he felt different. he stared at the wall, trying to remember what else had happened. 

his hands shot to his mouth. oh, jesus fucking christ. his teeth. he quickly felt at his ears to make sure that he wasn’t in a dream or something. they were pointed at the tips. he had fangs, long, sharp ones that he couldn’t really get his tongue around.

fuck. 

he’d let matt turn him. that was the other thing that had happened last night. 

matt let out a groan, burying his face in the pillows under him. tom just gaped at him, not really able to process what was happening to him. 

“matt,” he whispered urgently, shaking matt’s shoulder. “babe.” matt groaned again, sleepily waving tom away with one hand. 

“love, my ass hurts. let me sleep.” tom would have found this funny at any other given time, but he was freaking out here. he shook matt’s shoulder again, making the ginger look up at him tiredly. 

“matt. i’m a vampire. i’m losing my shit right now.” matt blinked at him for a couple seconds, then broke into a smile.

“oh yeah. you let me turn you. you told me that you loved me with everything you had, and you told me that you wanted to be with me forever. i asked you if i could turn you, and you told me yes. so i turned you. and you fell asleep.” what? how did matt remember all of this and he didn’t? matt was looking up at him sleepily, and he reached out and touched tom’s bare arm. 

“i did it because i love you,” matt said softly. “so we can be together for the rest of our lives and not worry about death.” tom’s heart skipped a beat, as it always seemed to do around matt. he couldn’t help but smile, though awkwardly. these fangs were really starting to cramp his style. he settled back down into bed, and matt placed a light kiss on his nose. 

“i love you. please don’t be mad.” tom chuckled, placing a kiss of his own on matt’s cute nose. 

“i’m not mad,” he replied, running his fingers through matt’s fiery hair. “i love you too. so much.” and he meant both of those things. he was so deeply in love with this vampire, so in love that he’d let this vampire turn him into a vampire. they were going to be together forever, watching the world pass, and tom was okay with that. he was completely okay with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tada!! and thats the end of vimlr!! i hope y’all have liked this as much as i did <33 it was fun uwu
> 
> tysm for all your sweet comments and kudos,, u guys are so nice to me & my suffering tomatt trash-ness


End file.
